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GREEK   FATHERS 


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JY'D  GEORGE  A.  JACKSON 


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EARLY  CHRISTIAN  LIT- 
ERATURE  PRIMERS, 

edited  by  Professor  GEORGE   P.    Fisher, 
D.  D,  LL.  D. 


TH 
I. 

E    EARLY    CHRISTIAN    LITERATURE 

PRIMERS. 

)LOGISTS    OF 

The  Apostolic  Fathers  and  the  Apc 

THE  Second  Century,  a.  d.  95-180. 

II. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Third  Century,  a 

,  D.  180-325. 

III. 

The  Post-Nicene  Greek  Fathers,  a.  d 
In  preparation. 

.  325-750- 

IV. 

The  Post-Nicene  Latin  Fathers,  a.  d. 

325-590- 

J 

€nxh  €l^xisimn  "^xitxninxt  primers. 

Edited  by  Professor  GEORGE  P.  FiSHER,  D.  D. 

THE   /        IVIAR  12  1914 
POST-NICEN 

GREEK  FATHERS 


BY 

REV.  GEORGE  A.  JACKSON. 


NEW   YORK: 
D.    APPLETON     AND     COMPANY, 

I,     3,     AND    5    BOND    STREET. 
1883. 


COPYRIGHT   BY 

D.  APPLETON  AND   COMPANY, 

1883. 


CONTENTS 


Chronological  Table 

The  Alexandrian  and  the  Antiochian  Schools 
Symbols  of  the  First  Four  Councils 

The  Niceno-Constantinopolitan  Creed 

The  Symbol  of  Chalcedon 
The  Post-Nicene  Greek  Fathers: 

Eusebius 

"  The  Evangelical  Preparation  "     . 

*'  The  Evangelical  Demonstration  "     . 

"  Ecclesiastical  History  " 

List  of  Works 

Athanasius  ..... 

Treatise  against  the  Gentiles 

Discourse  on  the  Incarnation  . 

"  Historical  Tracts  "    .... 

Epistle  in  Defense  of  the  Nicene  Definition 

"  Orations  against  the  Arians,"  I-IV  . 

Extracts  from  the  same   . 

Letter  upon  the  Book  of  Psalms 

"  Life  of  Anthony ".         .         .         . 

The  Festal  Epistle,  with  Extracts 

List  of  Works 

Arizes      ....... 

Cyril  of  Jerzisalem       .... 

Catechetical  Lectures 

"On  the  Mysteries  " 

Extracts  from  the  Lectures 


PAGE 

■  9 
II 

.      22 

23 
24 

25 

,       28 

29 
•      30 

32 
.      32 

35 

,     36 

37 

.     46 

47 

.     52 

55 

56 

57 

■  59 
59 

.  60 
62 

.  67 
67 


CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Ephraem  Syrits -70 

"  Ad  Clerum."     Selections  ....  72 

"  On  comprehending  God."     Selections  .         .     73 

"The  Repentance  of  Nineveh."     Selections       .  74 

"  On  the  Death  of  Children  " 77 

"  Prayer  in  Prospect  of  Judgment  "...  78 

"  The  Pearl " .         -79 

Marcellus  and  the  Apollinarii  ....  80 

Basil 81 

Works  upon  Scripture 85 

Homilies  on   the   Hexameron  ;  on   the  Psalms  ; 

on  Baptism  ;  on  Building  Greater  ;  on  Faith,  with 

Basil's  Confession  of  Faith. 
From  Address  on  reading  Profane  Authors      .         .     94 
Controversial  Works  ......  95 

"Against    Eunomius,"  and  "On  the  Holy  Spirit." 
Extracts  from  "  Book  on  the  Holy  Spirit  "      .         .98 
Letters 99 

To  Gregory,  Amphilochius,  Western  Bishops. 
Ascetic  Works 104 

The  Ethics,  with  Rules  for  those  intrusted  with 

the  Word  ;  Monastic  Rules  iti  extenso  ;  the  same 

in  epitome,  with  extract  on  Future  Punishment ; 

Canons  ;  Monastic  Constitutions. 

Principal  Works no 

Gregory  Nazianzen      .         .         .         .         .         .         .111 

Discourses 113 

On  Theology  ;  on  the  Dignity  of  the  Priesthood  ; 

Farewell  to  Constantinople. 
Panegyrics  and  Eulogies — Of  Gregory     .         .         .  122 

Letters— To  Thecla 125 

Poems 127 

Hymn  to  God 128 

To  his  Soul  and  Body 129 

Gregory  Nyssa 132 

"  The  Catechetical  Discourses  "  ;  Extracts  .  .  134 
"On  the  Soul  and  the  Resurrection"  ;  Extracts  137 
"  Against  Eunomius  "  ;  Extracts      ....   138 


CONTENTS.  7 


PAGE 


"  On  the  Creation  of  Man  "  ;  Extracts         .         .        140 

Principal  Works 142 

Didymtis 142 

Epiphanitis 143 

'*  The  Panarion" 145 

Extracts :  On  Prayers  for  the  Dead  ;  on  Repent- 
ance after  Death  ;  on  the  Several  Orders  of  the 
Clergy  ;  on  Images  in  Churches 

Diodorus  of  Tarsus 148 

Chrysostom      .         .         ......        149 

Homilies 154 

Upon  Genesis,  the  Psalms,  Matthew,  John,  Acts, 
the  Epistles  ;  upon  the  Parable  of  the  Talents  ; 
upon  Doctrinal  Subjects ;  Moral  Discourses ; 
upon  Festival  Days,  and  on  the  Saints. 

Special  Sermons 167 

Sermons  on  the  Statues.  Extracts  from  the 
same. 

Treatises 179 

"  On  the  Priesthood."     Extracts  from  the  same. 

Letters 185 

Principal  Works 185 

Synesius 186 

Ode 187 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia 188 

Theophilus 189 

Cyril  of  Alexandria 190 

Commentaries  ....         ...  192 

Letters 192 

Anathemas  against  Nestorius  ....  192 

Treatises 194 

"  Of  God's  Worship  in  the  Spirit "  .         .         .         .195 

Nestorius 197 

Theodoret 198 

Commentaries .       201 

Historical  Writings 204 

"  Ecclesiastical  History " ;  "  Lives  of  the 
Monks." 


COA'TENTS. 

PA.GE 

Treatises 206 

"  Evanistes  "  ;  "Of  Heretical  Fables";  "Dis- 
courses of  Providence "  ;  "  Cure  of  Heathen 
Falsehoods." 

Letters 207 

The  Church  Historians  ......        20S 

Socrates,  Sozomen,  Philostorgius,  Evagrius. 
Other  Writers  of  t/ie  Fourth  and  Fifth  Centuries        .  210 

John  of  Datnascus 212 

The  Fount  of  Knowledge 214 

I.  "Dialectics."  2.  "  Of  Heresies."  3.  "  Of  the 
Orthodox  Faith." 

Hymns 216 

Canon  for  Easter — Ode  I 217 

Idiomela  for  All  Saints 218 

Principal  Works 219 

Other  Late  Writers         .         .         ■         .         .         .219 
The  Greek  Hymnologists      .         .         .  .         .222 

Ode  of  Cosmas 223 

Hymn  of  Stephen 223 


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THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND  THE 
ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS. 


The  interaction  of  these  two  schools  of  thought 
and  centers  of  influence  constitutes  the  history  of 
the  Eastern  Church  during  the  period  before  us. 
There  is  a  technical  use  of  terms  which  would 
limit  "  the  Alexandrian  School  "  to  the  theological 
institution  connected  with  the  Alexandrian  Church 
and  "  the  Antiochian  School "  to  a  certain  school 
of  scripture  interpretation  originating  in  Antioch. 
We,  however,  designate  by  the  first  the  type  of 
thought  and  the  body  of  thinkers  centering  in 
Alexandria  from  the  fourth  century  onward,  and 
by  the  second  the  thought  and  thinkers  peculiar 
at  that  period  to  the  Orient.  These  two  types  of 
thought  may  be  traced  to  a  common  source  in  the 
mind  of  Origen.  This  greatest  theologian  of  the 
early  Church  was  the  culminating  fruit  of  an  earlier 
school  at  Alexandria.  Five  hundred  years  before 
he  was  born,  the  Greek  conqueror  founded,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Nile,  within  a  few  hours'  sail  of  either 
Greece  or  Syria,  the  city  which  bears  his  name. 
The  population  of  this  earliest  cosmopolitan  center 


12  THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND 

was  Greek,  Jewish,  and  Egyptian,  in  about  equal 
numbers.  There,  on  what  may  be  called  neutral 
soil,  were  planted  side  by  side  the  intellectual  life 
of  Greece  and  the  moral  and  religious  life  of  Pal- 
estine. Through  the  patronage  of  the  Ptolemies 
and  the  influence  of  the  great  Alexandrian  Library 
there  grew  up  a  school  of  literary  and  scientific 
men  who  made  of  Alexandria  a  second  Athens. 
At  the  same  time  there  sprang  up  among  the  He- 
brew residents  a  school  of  the  Rabbis,  which  was  so 
famous  as  to  be  known  among  the  whole  nation  as 
the  "Light  of  Israel."  The  interchange  of  ideas 
between  these  two  schools  was  the  first  step  toward 
universalizing  the  peculiar  treasures,  the  knowledge 
and  the  religion,  the  reason  and  the  faith,  of  these 
two  peoples.  But  the  Ptolemaic  and  Rabbinic 
schools  gave  place  to  two  others :  the  Neo-Platonic, 
a  school  of  philosophy  colored  by  the  religion 
taught  by  the  Rabbis ;  and  the  Christian,  a  school 
of  faith  enlightened  and  broadened  by  its  contact 
with  the  Greek  intellect.  The  origin  of  this  Chris- 
tian school  was  a  catechetical  class  connected  with 
the  Alexandrian  church.  Pantaenus,  the  first  teacher 
to  lift  it  to  its  high  rank,  was  followed  by  Clement, 
the  Christian  philosopher,  and  he  by  Origen,  under 
whom  and  his  immediate  successors  the  Alexandrian 
school  par  excellence  completed  its  work.  For  we 
must  now  distinguish  the  work  of  the  earlier  and 
later  Christian  schools  of  Alexandria.  The  work 
of  the  school  represented  by  Clement  and  Origen 
was  to  establish  the  claims  of  Christianity  upon  the 
intellect  of  the  world.  These  teachers  had  not  to 
develop  and  formulate  the  interior  doctrines  of  the 


THE  ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS.  13 

faith ;  but,  comprehending  Christianity  as  a  whole, 
as  the  revelation  and  redemptive  power  of  the  one 
Supreme  God,  to  stamp  it  upon  the  human  mind, 
in  opposition  to  all  polytheistic  superstitions  and 
fantastic  philosophies.  That  work  it  successfully 
wrought,  and  thereby,  above  all  other  schools  of 
thought,  classical,  ecclesiastical,  or  scientific,  merited 
the  first  place  in  the  estimation  of  an  enlightened 
Christian  world.  But  a  mind  which,  like  Origen's, 
could  so  grasp  and  so  impress  Christianity,  could 
not  fail  to  reason  profoundly  upon  its  interior  prob- 
lems. We,  for  whom  the  grander  questions  in  the- 
ology have  so  long  been  solved,  forget  that  their 
solution  was  the  work  of  centuries.  Thus  the  pre- 
vailing conception  of  God  as  triune,  though  founded 
upon  the  Scriptures,  was  not  fully  formulated  until 
the  fourth  century.  The  Christian  consciousness 
of  the  second  century,  side  by  side  with  its  belief 
in  one  God,  had  fixed  indefeasibly  upon  the  God- 
hood  of  Christ.  Then  came,  in  the  third  century, 
an  age  of  profound  thought.  Its  chief  work,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  to  reach  God,  not  to  define  him. 
Nevertheless,  vigorous  thinkers  who  had  reached 
him  began  to  work  on  the  problem  which  the  pre- 
ceding age  had  given,  but  had  not  itself  the  mind 
to  ponder,  viz..  How  one  God  with  a  divine  Christ } 
One  thinker,  Sabellius,  now  answered.  The  two- 
ness  is  only  seeming,  since  the  theophany  in  Christ 
is  only  economic  and  temporal,  and  will  end  as  it 
began  with  the  work  of  manifestation  and  re- 
demption. But  to  Alexandrian  minds,  imbued  with 
the  idea  of  the  Logos,  this  answer  was  not  adequate. 
To  Origen,  who  completed  the  Alexandrian  concep- 


14  THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND 

tion  of  the  Logos  by  his  doctrine  of  the  *'  Eternally- 
Begotten,"  the  Eternal  Son  was  as  real  and  distinct 
as  the  one  Supreme  God ;  and,  as  the  chief  expo- 
nent of  a  school  in  which  faith  was  wedded  to  sci- 
ence, he  sought  to  understand  the  relations  of  these 
conceptions.  That,  however,  was  not  his  achieve- 
ment. Faith  and  science  never  brought  him  beyond 
a  conception  of  the  Son  as  subordinate.  But  his 
faith  had  laid  hold  upon  the  two  essential  elements 
of  the  truth,  the  divineness  and  the  eternal  distinc- 
tion of  the  Son ;  and  hisreason  pronounced  them 
reconcilable.  He,  therefore,  as  the  head-master  of 
the  first  Alexandrian  school,  whose  work  was  now 
substantially  done,  handed  over  to  the  next  age  a 
two-fold  task :  to  keep  what  faith  pronounced ;  to 
complete  what  reason  had  unsuccessfully  begun. 
This  was  really  a  form  of  the  work  of  which  Alex- 
andria had  been  the  recognized  center,  since  ever 
Greek  and  Jew  had  met  in  the  newly  founded  city, 
only  that  work  was  now  far  advanced.  Instead  of 
"Are  faith  and  reason  reconcilable,"  the  question 
now  was,  "  How  are  they  reconcilable .''  " 

But  Alexandria  was  no  longer  to  monopolize 
a  task  which  had  been  hers  for  four  centuries.  The 
last  twenty  years  of  Origen's  life  were  spent  in  Asia, 
and  of  the  twofold  work  which  he  projected  into 
the  fourth  century,  part,  the  faith-task,  was  left  to 
the  later  school  of  Alexandria ;  and  part,  the  task 
of  reason,  to  what  we  call  the  school  of  Antioch. 
Perhaps  no  better  distinction  can  be  drawn  between 
these  two  schools  than  to  say  that  Alexandria  repre- 
sented the  believing,  the  mystical,  the  intuitive  Ori- 
gen,  Antioch  the  broad-minded,  reasoning  Origen. 


THE  ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS.  15 

We  can  not  wonder  at  this  division  of  labor.  Each 
champion  to  do  best  his  specific  work  must  approach 
the  task  from  a  peculiar  stand-point,  and  while  one 
profound  mind  like  Origen's  might  be  developed 
in  both  the  above  directions,  no  body  or  school  of 
men  sufficiently  numerous  to  work  out  the  grand 
problem  presented  could  possess  this  complex  char- 
acter. Let  us  note  just  what  was  to  be  done.  The 
Christian  consciousness  as  against  Ebionism  had 
long  before  acknowledged  the  Son,  the  Eternal 
Word,  as  divine.  The  Christian  intellect  had  since 
affirmed  that  this  needed  explanation,  and  had 
sought  such  explanation  first  in  Sabellianism,  then 
in  Subordinationism.  The  first  of  these  did  not 
satisfy  the  intelligence,  the  second  did  not  meet  the 
demands  of  faith.  So  the  Church  stood  at  the 
beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  a  part  resting  with 
all  its  weight  upon  a  divine  Christ,  a  part  in  an  intel- 
lectual ferment,  believing  yet  anxious  until  its  intel- 
lect should  follow  its  faith.  Without  the  anchorage 
furnished  by  the  former  party,  the  Church  might 
drift  upon  the  rocks  of  doubt;  without  the  sails 
of  the  latter,  she  would  never  make  a  haven  of  rest. 
That  haven  was  to  be  the  trinitarian  dogma  as 
completed  at  the  Council  of  Constantinople.  With- 
out tracing  the  steps  by  which  this  dogma  was  for- 
mulated, we  may  briefly  note  the  workers  and  the 
characteristic  work  of  Alexandria  and  of  the  East. 
Since  the  days  of  Dionysius,  who  had  for  a  time 
perpetuated  the  subordination  views  of  Origen,  the 
Alexandrian  leaders  had  been  asserting  with  more 
and  more  of  earnestness  and  obliviousness  to  its 
intellectual  bearngs  the  truth  of  the  Godhood  of 


i6  THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND 

Christ.  To  continue  this  bold  assertion  in  the  face 
of  all  opposition,  and  side  by  side  with  the  asser- 
tion of  a  distinct  Father  and  Son,  was  the  part  of 
Alexandria.  The  one  man  who  almost  by  his  sole 
efforts  performed  this  work  was  Athanasius.  He  is 
rightly  called  the  great  Trinitarian  ;  yet  his  was  not 
so  much  a  constructive  as  a  conserving  work.  His 
own  mind  was  never  perplexed  with  questions  as  to 
how  there  is  one  God  and  the  consubstantial  Son. 
The  Christian  consciousness,  the  devout,  the  relig- 
ious element  in  the  Church,  had  intuitively  grasped 
both  these  elements  as  facts ;  and  when,  at  Nice, 
the  bishop  of  Alexandria  and  his  young  deacon  in- 
sisted upon  the  ofwovoiov,  it  was  simply  as  conserv- 
ers  of  what  was  held  by  the  fathers  as  a  matter  of 
profound  faith.  So  throughout  his  long  career  as 
champion  of  the  Nicene  symbol,  Athanasius,  not- 
withstanding his  "  Orations  against  the  Arians," 
was  rather  the  living  and  inflexible  embodiment  of 
a  faith  in  the  several  elements  of  the  trinitarian 
doctrine  than  a  philosophical  exponent  of  that  doc- 
trine. 

But  over  against  this  conserving  ntarK^  was  the 
outreaching  yvdaig  whose  home  was  now  in  the 
East.  For  although  Arius  first  broached  his  theory 
of  subordination  in  Alexandria,  his  doctrines  had 
previously  been  propounded  by  Lucian  of  Antioch, 
and  it  was  in  the  churches  of  the  Orient  that  the 
opposing  theories  of  subordination  and  patripas- 
sionism  found  congenial  minds  and  their  chief  sup- 
port. For  fifty  years  following  the  Council  of  Nice 
almost  every  prominent  mind  of  the  Eastern  Church 
shows  signs  of  unrest  under  the  definitions  of  that 


THE  ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS.  17 

body.  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Eusebius  of  Csesa- 
rea,  Acacius,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Basil  of  Ancyra, 
-^tius,  and  Eunomius,  on  the  one  hand,  represent 
various  degrees  of  Arianism.  Marcellus  of  Ancyra 
and  Photinus,  at  the  other  extreme,  hold  to  a  modi- 
fied Sabellianism.  We  shall  think  but  narrowly,  if 
we  dismiss  the  controversies  and  the  creed-making 
of  this  period  as  the  mere  gymnastics  of  restless  or 
ambitious  minds.  They  were  rather  the  intellectual 
throes  by  which  birth  was  given  to  the  rational  ac- 
ceptance of  a  dictum  of  faith.  Looking  back  upon 
the  conflict,  we  see  the  Alexandrian  bishop  tossed 
and  buffeted,  but  holding  ever  aloft  his  intuitively 
formed  creed  and  saying  firmly,  "I  believe."  The 
bishops  of  the  East,  analyzing,  defining,  accepting, 
denying,  receiving,  anathematizing  through  a  long 
generation,  at  last  find  out  every  intellectual  ele- 
ment involved ;  and  then  the  struggle  is  brought  to 
an  end  by  the  rise  of  three  men.  Basil  and  the 
two  Gregorys,  educated  amid  the  battle,  have  the 
minds  to  discern,  the  hearts  to  believe,  and  the 
wisdom  and  courage  to  demonstrate  that  reason  and 
faith  are  at  one  in  their  approval  of  the  dogma  of 
Nice.  When,  therefore,  the  symbol  uttered  by  Al- 
exandrian faith  A.  D.  325  is  reafiirmed  at  Constan- 
tinople A.  D.  381,  that  affirmation  is  the  product  of 
the  Antiochian  reason. 

But  this  formulating  of  the  trinitarian  dogma 
was  only  one  of  the  two  great  contests  in  which 
Alexandria  and  Antioch  were  respectively  the  repre- 
sentatives of  faith  and  reason.  The  fifth  century 
presented  a  new  problem  in  the  person  of  Christ. 
Apollinaris  having  asserted  that  Christ  had  no  hu- 


I8  THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND 

man  soul,  but  that  instead  the  Logos  was  the  ani- 
mating principle  of  his  human  body,  the  Council  of 
Constantinople  repudiated  this  doctrine,  and  ex- 
pressly recognized  the  human  soul.  But,  like  the 
Council  of  Nice,  it  simply  affirmed  a  truth,  and  left 
it  for  the  future  to  define  and  defend.  The  goal  to 
be  reached  through  long  agitation  and  bitter  con- 
troversy was  the  definition  of  Chalcedon.  The  dis- 
tinctive task  of  faith  was  now,  while  admitting  a 
certain  human  personality,  to  maintain  the  exclu- 
sively divine  in  Christ.  The  task  of  reason  was  to 
make  the  human  nature  a  real  element  in  the  Chris- 
tological  conception.  The  faith  of  the  whole  Church 
had  been  over-ready  to  use  terms  which  seemed  to 
favor  the  Godhood  of  the  Son.  One  expression  of 
that  nature  which  had  come  into  somewhat  wide 
use  was  "  Mother  of  God,"  as  applied  to  the  Virgin 
Mary.  Phrases  of  this  sort  were  in  especial  favor 
in  Egypt.  When,  therefore,  Nestorius,  who  had 
been  called  from  the  church  at  Antioch  to  the 
patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  took  grounds  against 
the  indiscriminate  use  of  OeoroKog,  he  at  once  found 
an  opponent  in  Cyril  of  Alexandria.  Whether  ani- 
mated by  a  holy  zeal  or  moved  by  an  unrighteous 
envy  of  his  rival,  Cyril  launched  against  Nestorius 
twelve  anathemas,  enunciating  the  mystical,  incom- 
prehensible fact  of  the  union  of  deity  and  human- 
ity in  the  one  person  of  Christ,  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  predicates  of  the  divine  and  of  the  human 
Christ  could  be  used  interchangeably.  In  the  re- 
sponse made  to  these  anathemas,  we  see  not  only 
the  Antiochian  spirit,  but  also  the  work  of  the  his- 
toric   Antiochian  school  of   interpretation.     More 


THE  ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS.  19 

than  fifty  years  before  this,  Diodorus  of  Tarsus, 
then  a  priest  and  a  teacher  of  the  Scriptures  at  an 
institution  in  the  suburbs  of  Antioch,  had  devoted 
himself  to  the  interpretation  of  scripture  in  an  his- 
torical and  grammatical  sense,  breaking  away  from 
the  old  allegorical  methods.  He  had  for  his  pupils 
Chrysostom  and  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  the  latter 
of  whom  succeeded  him  as  the  representative  of 
this  reasonable  use  of  scripture  in  matters  of  doc- 
trine. By  such  usage  Theodore  was  led  to  scatter 
all  those  misty  and  unreal  conceptions  with  which 
the  traditional  interpretation  had  enveloped  the 
person  of  Christ,  and  to  see  in  him  not  only  the 
divine  Logos,  but  also  the  real  man  depicted  in  the 
gospels.  Nestorius,  if  not  an  actual  pupil  of  The- 
odore, was  trained  in  the  same  institution  at  Anti- 
och, and  shared  the  opinions  of  this  great  father. 
His  repudiation  of  the  term  "  Mother  of  God  " 
was  in  strict  accord  with  the  Antiochian  spirit,  and 
when  denounced  by  Cyril  he  at  once  applied  to  his 
friend,  John  of  Antioch,  to  have  a  reply  made  by 
one  of  their  school.  This  work  was  assigned  to 
Theodoret,  bishop  of  Cyrus.  The  controversy  led 
to  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  a.  d.  431,  at  which  Nes- 
torius was  deposed,  and  the  Alexandrian  dogma  of 
the  one  nature  was  affirmed.  Nothing,  however, 
was  settled  by  this  action,  which  was  grossly  par- 
tisan. For  although  Nestorius's  deposition  was  con- 
firmed, the  Syrians  still  contended  for  the  biblical 
Christ  of  a  divine  and  a  human  nature,  while  the 
Alexandrians  as  stoutly  contended  for  their  tradi- 
tional, mystical  Christ  in  whom  the  human  was  vir- 
tually swallowed  up  in  the  divine.     Cyril  and  Theo- 


20  THE  ALEXANDRIAN  AND 

doret  continue  this  controversy,  and  when  Cyril 
dies,  his  successor,  Dioscorus,  takes  up  the  cause. 
"God  was  born,"  "God  suffered,"  were  Alexan- 
drian rallying-cries,  which  were  taken  up  by  monks 
in  the  Egyptian  interest  in  Palestine  and  at  Con- 
stantinople. The  zeal  of  a  certain  Eutyches,  one 
of  these  monks,  led  at  last  to  an  open  rupture,  and 
to  the  calling  of  a  council,  a.  d.  449,  for  a  new  de- 
cision of  the  point  at  issue.  This  gathering  fell 
under  the  control  of  Dioscorus,  who  with  his  monks 
conducted  himself  so  outrageously  that  it  has  always 
borne  the  name  of  the  Robber  Synod,  Changes  a 
court,  however,  soon  made  possible  the  repudiation 
of  this  council,  and  the  gathering  of  the  fourth  gen- 
eral council  at  Chalcedon.  Here,  although  the 
memory  of  Nestorius  was  branded,  a  creed  was 
adopted  which  recognized  the  work  of  the  Antio- 
chian  teachers;  and  the  Egyptian  mysticism  re- 
ceived such  a  blow  that  it  never  again  became  dom- 
inant in  the  Church.  Theodoret  also,  who  had 
been  deposed  at  Ephesus,  was  restored  to  his  see. 
With  this  definition  culminated  the  distinctive 
labors  of  the  schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch ; 
for  the  subsequent  struggles  of  the  Monophysites 
and  the  defenders  of  Chalcedon  were  not  contests 
of  thought,  but  only  quarrels  for  place  and  power. 
Both  schools  had  sadly  degenerated  and  soon  sank 
into  the  worst  caricatures  of  their  former  selves. 
It  was  indeed  a  lofty  faith  which  had  enabled  Atha- 
nasius  for  fifty  years,  through  all  perils,  to  advocate 
the  consubstantial  Trinity;  but  it  was  only  a  piti- 
able superstition  which  led  the  fanatic  monks  of 
Alexandria  to  shout  for  the  "  Mother  of  God."    So 


THE   ANTIOCHIAN  SCHOOLS.  21 

it  was  an  enviable  rationalism  which  had  enabled 
the  three  Cappadocians  to  justify  to  men's  reason  a 
grand  dictum  of  faith ;  but  it  was  only  a  miserable 
pedantry  with  which  the  later  Orientals  measured 
and  defined  the  thousand-and-one  points  of  ortho- 
doxy. 

As  we  saw,  in  the  work  of  Origen  in  the  third 
century,  a  parallel  to  labors  to  which  the  present 
age  is  recurring,  so  had  we  space  we  might  profit- 
ably note  some  modern  parallels  to  these  parties  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries.  The  Church  has 
still  her  Alexandria,  and  her  leaders  to  whom  a 
traditional  faith  is  more  than  all  rational  systems  of 
belief.  She  has  also  her  Antiochian  body,  with  its 
heterogeneous  elements.  As  in  that  ancient  time, 
so  now,  a  part  of  this  thinking  body  are  so  exalting 
reason  that  they  forget  the  faith;  but  the  larger 
portion,  let  us  hope,  studying  rationally  the  written 
word,  are  proving  the  Basils  and  Gregorys,  the  Dio- 
doruses  and  Theodores,  the  Chrysostoms  and  Theo- 
dorets,  of  our  new  age  of  biblical  study. 


SYMBOLS  OF  THE  FIRST  FOUR 
(ECUMENICAL  COUNCILS. 


So  much  of  the  Church  literature  of  this  age 
has  reference  to  the  doctrinal  definitions  of  the 
first  four  councils  that  acquaintance  with  the  sym- 
bols which  they  adopted  is  necessary  to  an  appreci- 
ation of  the  writings.  The  definitions  of  all  four 
councils  were  strictly  t/ieo\ogica.\,  anthropology  be- 
ing mainly  left  to  the  more  practical  West.  There  is 
a  noticeable  distinction,  however,  between  the  work 
of  the  first  two  and  the  two  succeeding  assemblies. 
The  Councils  of  Nice,  a.  d.  325,  and  Constantino- 
ple, A.  D.  381,  formulated  in  their  creeds  the  con- 
ception of  God  in  his  entirety,  as  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit.  The  Councils  of  Ephesus,  a.  d.  431, 
and  Chalcedon,  a.  d.  451,  advanced  to  the  more 
specific  consideration  of  the  person  of  the  Son. 
At  Ephesus  no  authoritative  symbol  was  uttered, 
the  delegates  being  divided  into  an  Alexandrian 
or  one-nature  party,  and  an  Antiochian  or  two- 
natures  party.  These  afterward  compromised  by 
the  concurrence  of  the  latter  in  the  excommunica- 
tion of   Nestorius,  champion  of  the  two  natures. 


SYMBOLS  OF  (ECUMENICAL  COUNCILS.     23 

and  the  consent  of  the  former  to  a  confession  allow- 
ing the  two  natures.  Thus  was  necessitated  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  which  propounded  a  symbol 
since  recognized  by  the  Church  Catholic  as  rightly 
defining  the  person  of  Christ. 

NICENO-CONSTANTINOPOLITAN    CREED, 

I  believe  in  one  God  the  Father  Almighty ;  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  of  all  things  visible  and 
invisible.  And  in  one  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  only- 
begotten  Son  of  God,  begotten  of  the  Father  be- 
fore all  worlds,  God  of  God,  Light  of  Light,  very 
God  of  very  God,  begotten,  not  made,  being  of  one 
substance  with  the  Father;  by  whom  all  things 
were  made ;  who,  for  us  men  and  for  our  salvation, 
came  down  from  heaven  and  was  incarnate  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  was  made 
man ;  and  was  crucified  also  for  us  under  Pontius 
Pilate ;  he  suffered  and  was  buried ;  and  the  third 
day  he  rose  again  according  to  the  Scriptures;  and 
ascended  into  heaven,  and  sitteth  on  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father ;  and  he  shall  come  again  with  glory 
to  judge  both  the  quick  and  the  dead ;  whose  king- 
dom shall  have  no  end. 

And  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,*  the  Lord  and 
Giver  of  Life ;  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father 
[and  the  Son] ;  who  with  the  Father  and  the  Son 
together  is  worshiped  and  glorified ;  who  spake  by 
the  prophets.  And  one  holy  Catholic  and  Apos- 
tolic Church.     I  acknowledge  one  baptism  for  the 

*  The  Nicene  Creed  ended  here.  Appended  to  it,  how- 
ever, was  the  following  anathema:  "But  those  who  say  that 
'  there  was  once  when  He  was  not,' and 'before  He  was  be- 
gotten He  was  not,*  and  that  'from  the  not  being  He  came  to 
be ' ;  or  those  who  say  that  the  Son  of  God  is  '  of  another  sub- 
stance or  essence,'  or  '  created,'  or  '  alterable,'  or  '  mutable,* 
the  Catholic  Church  anathematizes." 


24      SYMBOLS  OF  (ECUMENICAL  COUNCILS. 

remission  of  sins ;  and  I  look  for  the  resurrection 
of  the  dead  and  the  life  of  the  world  to  come. 
Amen. 

THE   SYMBOL    OF    CHALCEDON. 

We,  then,  following  the  holy  fathers,  all  with  one 
consent,  teach  men  to  confess  one  and  the  same 
Son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  same  perfect  in 
Godhead  and  also  perfect  in  manhood ;  truly  God 
and  truly  man,  of  a  reasonable  soul  and  body; 
consubstantial  with  the  Father  according  to  the 
Godhead  and  consubstantial  with  us  according  to 
the  manhood ;  in  all  things  like  unto  us,  without 
sin ;  begotten  before  all  ages  of  the  Father  accord- 
ing to  the  Godhead,  and  in  these  latter  days,  for 
us  and  for  our  salvation,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary, 
the  Mother  of  God,  according  to  the  manhood; 
one  and  the  same  Christ,  Son,  Lord,  Only-begotten, 
to  be  acknowledged  in  two  natures,  inconfusedly, 
unchangeably,  indivisibly,  inseparably;  the  distinc- 
tion of  natures  being  by  no  means  taken  away  by 
the  union,  but  rather  the  property  of  each  nature 
being  preserved,  and  concurring  in  one  person  and 
one  subsistence,  not  parted  or  divided  into  two 
persons,  but  one  and  the  same  Son,  and  only-be- 
gotten, God  the  Word,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  as 
the  prophets  from  the  beginning  have  declared  con- 
cerning him,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  himself  has 
taught  us,  and  the  creed  of  the  holy  fathers  has 
handed  down  to  us. 


/ 


THE 

POST-NICENE  GREEK  FATHERS. 


EUSEBIUS. 


The  Father  of  Church  History.  He  was  born 
and  educated  in  Palestine,  where  he  was  made  a 
presbyter  of  the  church  at  Csesarea.  Here  he 
became  connected  with  the  library  and  school  of 
theology  founded  by  the  presbyter  Pamphilus,  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  Origen,  and  collector  of 
ecclesiastical  writings.  His  close  friendship  for 
this  man  gave  to  Eusebius  his  surname  Pamphilus. 
In  the  persecution  of  Diocletian  he  constantly. vis- 
ited Pamphilus  in  prison,  and  together  they  com- 
posed a  work  in  defense  of  Origen.  After  the 
martyrdom  of  his  friend,  Eusebius  went  first  to 
Tyre  and  then  to  Egypt,  where  he  was  himself  im- 
prisoned, but  was  released  without  suffering  bodily 
injury.  With  this  escape  he  was  afterward  taunted 
by  a  bishop  who,  as  his  fellow-prisoner,  had  lost  an 
eye ;  but  this  reproach  seems  to  have  been  ill 
founded,  for  on  his  return  to  Csesarea  he  was  well 
received,  and  about  a.  d.  314  he  was  chosen  bishop 
of  that  see.  In  this  position  he  remained  until  his 
death,  a.  d.  340,  having  nine  years  before  declined 
3 


26  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

the  patriarchate  of  Antioch.  He  did  not  need  this 
preferment,  however,  to  give  him  prominence  and 
influence  in  the  Church.  Born  about  the  time  of 
Origen's  death,  and  living  until  near  the  birth  of 
Jerome,  he  was  a  scholar  worthy  to  connect  the 
author  of  the  "  Hexapla  "  with  the  author  of  the 
"Vulgate."  Among  his  earlier  works  were  the 
elaborate  apologetic  writings,  "Evangelic  Prepara- 
tion "  and  "  Demonstration."  These  were  followed 
before  the  Council  of  Nice  by  the  "Chronicon" 
and  his  chief  work,  the  Church  History.  Either 
from  the  reputation  gained  by  his  earlier  labors,  or 
through  his  native  talents  as  a  courtier,  he  became 
a  favorite  of  the  Emperor  Constantine,  who  admit- 
ted him  to  familiar  personal  intercourse  and  placed 
at  his  command  the  archives  of  the  state  as  helps 
to  his  historical  studies.  On  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Arian  difficulty,  Arius  appealed  to  the  Eastern 
bishops  for  support,  claiming  that  his  opinions  were 
like  their  own.  Some  of  them,  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  wrote  to  Alexan- 
der in  behalf  of  Arius.  Among  these  was  Euse- 
bius of  Csesarea,  of  whose  support  of  Arius  Alex- 
ander complains  somewhat  bitterly.  But,  while  as- 
senting to  the  views  which  Arius  at  first  pro- 
pounded, Eusebius  did  not  assume  a  position  an-^ 
tagonistic  to  the  Church.  When  the  council  con- 
vened at  Nice,  he  held  a  mediate  position  between 
the  parties  of  Alexander  and  Arius,  and  made  an 
address  to  the  emperor  in  the  name  of  the  whole 
synod.  It  was  he  also  who  submitted  the  first 
draft  of  the  symbol  adopted  by  the  council,  the 
only  important  addition  to  his  language  being  the 


EUSEBIUS. 


27 


phrases  "very  God  of  very  God"  and  "of  one 
substance  with  the  Father."  Though  demurring  to 
these  expressions,  he  subscribed  the  symbol,  wrote 
to  his  church  that  the  council  was  substantially  in 
accord  with  their  own  confession,  and  never  after- 
ward repudiated  the  Nicene  faith.  He  did  not, 
however,  sympathize  with  Athanasius,  and  in  con- 
sequence was  denounced  by  some  of  the  later 
fathers  as  an  Arian,  particularly  by  Jerome,  who 
called  him  the  ringleader  of  those  heretics.  This 
charge  is  palpably  untrue,  and,  had  it  come  from  a 
less  learned  and  more  candid  man  than  Jerome, 
might  have  arisen  from  the  confusing  of  the  two 
Eusebii.  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  was  an  extreme 
Arian  who  avowed  doctrines  far  in  advance  of 
those  first  propounded  by  Arius  and  approved  by 
the  bishop  of  Csesarea.  The  doctrinal  position  of 
the  latter  has  been  characterized  as  "chameleon- 
hued,"  "  a  mirror  of  the  unsolved  problems  of  the 
Church  of  that  age."  If  he  is  classified  at  all,  we 
should  place  him  in  the  right  wing  of  the  Arianizing 
party,  which  in  time  separated  from  the  radicals 
and  was  known  as  semi-Arian.  Of  this  party 
Athanasius  came  to  speak  as  "blessed  and  truly 
religious  men,"  "  brothers  who  mean  what  we  mean 
and  dispute  only  about  the  word  [dfioovaLov]."  Most 
of  these  went  over  in  time  into  full  accord  with  the 
Catholic  bishops.  We  may  define  the  general  posi- 
tion of  the  Catholics  and  semi-Arians  by  saying 
that,  until  the  traditional  doctrines  of  the  Church 
as  defined  at  Nice  had  been  scientifically  examined 
and  approved  by  the  reason  and  faith  of  the  fourth 
century,  the  semi-Arians  always  approached  these 


28  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

doctrines  from  the  side  of  reason,  the  Athanasians 
from  the  side  of  faith.  Their  ultimate  agreement 
was  assured  by  the  substantial  truth  of  the  Nicene 
utterance ;  but  such  agreement  could  not  come 
until  the  doctrines  were  thought  through.  It  is 
noticeable  that  the  above  language  of  Athanasius 
was  used  as  late  as  a.  d.  356.  Had  Eusebius  lived 
until  the  period  of  Gregory  Nyssa,  he  and  Gregory 
and  Athanasius  would  doubtless  have  been  brothers 
who  not  only  meant,  but  also  said,  the  same  things. 

THE    EVANGELICAL    PREPARATION. 

The  object  of  this  work,  which  is  in  fifteen 
books,  is  to  predispose  the  thoughtful  to  receive  the 
Christian  religion  by  dissipating  their  pagan  preju- 
dices. The  first  six  books  are  employed  in  demol- 
ishing the  pagan  systems  of  religion,  which  the  au- 
thor shatters  by  his  learned  elucidations.  The  pure 
and  reasonable  character  of  the  Christian  theology 
and  the  blessings  which  the  faith  has  brought  to 
the  world  are  set  forth  in  contrast  with  the  absurd 
teachings  of  polytheism.  This  system  Eusebius 
first  traces  back  to  its  cradle  among  the  Egyptians, 
whose  alleged  antiquity  he  attacks  as  chimerical, 
affirming  that  their  annals  are  based  upon  a  gross 
interpolation  of  Scripture  records.  He  then  fol- 
lows the  system  as  it  spread  among  the  Greeks  and 
the  other  peoples  of  the  world.  He  confutes  the 
argument  of  pagans  from  the  predictions  of  their 
oracles;  and  combats  the  doctrine  of  a  fatality  or 
destiny  stronger  than  the  gods  themselves,  oppos- 
ing to  it  the  principle  of  human  freedom.  Then 
comes  an  examination  of  the  Hebrew  legislation  in 
comparison  with  that  of  the  other  nations,  the  legis- 
lator of  the  chosen  people  being  shown  to  be  the 
Sovereign  Author  and  Creator  of  all  things.     The 


E  USEE  I  us.  29 

remaining  books  oppose  to  the  extravagance  of 
paganism  the  Christian  faith,  which  is  first  viewed 
in  its  origin  as  the  religion  of  the  Hebrews.  Its 
wisdom  is  made  to  appear  by  showing  the  purity 
and  sublimity  of  its  dogmas  upon  the  unity  of  God, 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  etc. ;  the  character  of 
the  Mosaic  law,  which  was  confessedly  only  figura- 
tive and  preparatory  ;  and  the  holiness  of  the  patri- 
archs, prophets,  and  Essenes.  The  most  celebrated 
men  among  the  Greeks  have  borne  honorable  wit- 
ness to  this  faith ;  and  philosophers,  among  others 
Plato,  have  borrowed  from  it  some  of  their  dogmas. 
Three  books  are  occupied  in  tracing  Plato's  indebt- 
edness to  Scripture,  and  the  conclusion  is  reached 
that  this  philosopher  teaches  truthfully  only  when 
he  copies;  left  to  himself  he  abounds  in  errors. 
The  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  books  examine  the 
other  leading  writers  of  antiquity,  showing  how 
they  oppose  and  contradict  one  another.  From  all 
this  the  author  concludes  that  Christians  are  right 
in  abandoning  a  false  theology  in  favor  of  that 
of  the  Jews. 


THE     EVANGELICAL     DEMONSTRATION, 

Ten  only  of  the  twenty  books  of  this  work  are 
extant.  The  exordium  declares  that  the  Christian 
religion  is  established  by  the  prophecies  which  fore- 
told the  birth  at  Bethlehem,  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  Christ ;  and  announced  the  establishment 
and  marvelous  propagation  of  Christianity.  In 
the  first  book  the  author  proves  that  the  law  of 
the  Jews  was  given  for  one  only  nation,  while  the 
New  Testament  is  for  all  people  in  the  world ;  and 
that  the  religion  of  the  patriarchs  did  not  differ 
from  that  of  Christians,  both  having  the  same  God 
and  the  same  Word  whom  they  adore.  This  is 
confirmed,  says  the  second  book,  by  prophecies  ap- 


30  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

plicable  only  to  Jesus  Christ.  In  book  three  Christ 
is  shown  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the  world ;  and  that 
he  was  no  seducer  is  proved  by  his  doctrines  and 
his  miracles.  Book  four  proves  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God ;  sets  forth  the  reason  why  he 
became  man ;  explains  the  name  *'  Christ  " ;  and 
shows  how  the  prophecies  and  other  scriptures,  as 
well  as  the  events  of  Jewish  history  and  the  cere- 
monies of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  looked  forward  to  him. 
Then  we  are  shown  how,  before  his  advent,  the  pre- 
cise time  of  his  appearing  was  predicted,  his  ances- 
tors were  designated,  the  place  of  his  birth  was 
fixed,  his  forerunner  w^as  spoken  of,  the  mission  of 
his  apostles  was  characterized,  and  the  circum- 
stances of  the  treason  of  one  of  them  were  noted. 
Christ,  having  fulfilled  all  these  prophecies,  is 
proved  to  be  the  true  Messiah,  and  there  is  no  ex- 
cuse for  the  incredulity  of  the  synagogue.  The 
extant  books  end  with  the  words  of  Christ  upon  the 
cross,  the  ten  lost  books  having  cited  the  prophe- 
cies concerning  his  death,  burial,  resurrection,  and 
ascension,  and  concerning  the  conversion  of  the 
Gentiles. 

Of  these  two  books  Du  Pin  says  :  "  The  '  Evangelical 
Preparation'  and  '  Demonstration'  are  the  largest  work  that 
has  been  made  by  any  of  the  ancients  upon  this  subject ; 
where  a  man  may  find  more  proofs,  testimonies,  and  argu- 
ments for  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  than  in  any 
other.  They  are  very  proper  to  instruct  and  convince  all 
those  that  sincerely  search  after  truth.  In  fine,  Eusebius 
has  omitted  nothing  which  might  serve  to  undeceive  men 
of  a  false  religion  or  convince  them  of  the  true." 

ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY. 

This  first  of  church  histories  was  written  before 
the  Council  of  Nice.  The  work  must  not  be  judged 
by  modern  canons  of  the  historic  art;  nor  is  its 
value  to  be  gaugjed  by  its  literary  merit,  in  which 


EUSEBIUS. 


31 


respect  it  illustrates  what  has  been  said  of  the 
early  ecclesiastical  literature  as  a  whole.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  well-filled  store-house  of  the  facts  and  doc- 
uments out  of  which  history  is  made.  To  appreci- 
ate its  value  rightly,  we  must  imagine  that  the  book 
had  perished  during  the  dark  ages,  and  think  of  the 
gap  which  it  would  have  left  in  our  knowledge  of 
the  Church  from  the  last  days  of  Paul  to  the  con- 
version of  Constantine.  Eusebius  himself  was  not 
unaware  of  the  importance  of  his  labors.  Announc- 
ing the  subject  of  his  book — to  recount  the  suc- 
cession of  the  apostles  and  the  important  transac- 
tions of  the  Church;  to  notice  her  distinguished 
individuals  and  the  characters  of  the  innovators; 
as  well  as  to  set  forth  the  calamities  of  the  Jews 
and  the  progress  of  the  Church  through  hostility 
and  martyrdom — he  says  that  he  is  the  first  to  enter 
this  broad  field,  and  that  he  has  culled  his  materi- 
als from  the  writers  of  the  past,  with  the  purpose 
of  rescuing  them  from  oblivion.  Nor  was  this 
Father  of  Church  History  inappreciative  of  the 
lofty  nature  of  the  subject  upon  which  he  was 
entering.  For  he  begins,  not  on  a  terrestrial  level, 
nor  in  cloudy  myths,  but  by  treating  boldly  of  the 
Son  of  God,  existing  before  the  worlds,  whose  ad- 
vent and  advancing  work  among  men  is  his  noble 
theme.  His  history  consists  of  ten  short  books, 
or,  better,  chapters.  Though  his  method  may  be 
likened  to  that  of  the  first  rude  miner  with  his  pan, 
and  though  he  has  thrown  away  unknown  wealth 
and  preserved  some  earth,  the  sands  were  so  rich 
and  the  heavier  nuggets  were  so  easily  gathered 
that  these  chapters  are  invaluable.  Among  other 
topics  treated  are  the  movements  of  the  more  prom- 
inent apostles  in  founding  the  leading  churches  ;  the 
succession  of  bishops  in  these  churches;  various 
ecclesiastical  writings ;  the  persecutions  of  the 
Church,  and  her  martyrs;  the  demolition  of  the 


32  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

churches  under  Diocletian  ;  the  death  of  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Church ;  and  her  relief  and  exaltation 
under  Constantine.  The  design  of  our  books 
makes  it  unnecessary  to  characterize  further  the 
Ecclesiastical  History,  since  happily  it  is  an  excep- 
tion among  patristic  writings  in  being  accessible  to 
all,  and  in  the  possession  of  most  persons  who  are 
much  interested  in  the  early  Church. 

List  of  Eusebiuss  viost  Important  Works  now  extant. 

Historical.  The  "Chronicon,"  a  summary  univer- 
sal history,  giving  chronological  tables  and  a  sketch  of  the 
most  important  historical  events  from  Abraham  to  Con- 
stantine, a  work  of  much  value  for  the  study  of  ancient 
history.  The  "  Ecclesiastical  History."  "  Life  of  Con- 
stantine," a  work  in  four  books,  of  which  the  "Panegyric  " 
may  be  called  a  fifth  ;  indeed,  the  whole  is  a  panegyric 
rather  than  a  biography.  APOLOGETIC  AND  DOGMATIC. 
"  Preparatio  Evangelica."  "  Demonstratio  Evangelica." 
"  Book  against  Hierarchs,"  written  in  refutation  of  a  work 
against  the  Christians,  published  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Diocletian  persecution,  and  one  of  the  last  attempts  to 
brand  Christianity  by  comparing  its  author  to  Apollonius 
of  Tyana.  "  Against  Marcellus."  and  "  On  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Church."  In  opposing  Arianism,  Marcellus  had 
virtually  revived  Sabellianism  ;  and  in  the  above  works 
Eusebius  opposes  him  and  reasserts  the  hypostatical  dis- 
tinctions. The  "Theophania."  "  On  the  Easter  Festival," 
a  book  deemed  by  Constantine  so  important  that  he  caused 
its  immediate  translation  into  Latin.  EXEGETICAL.  Com- 
mentaries on  "The  Psalms"  (voluminous),  "Isaiah"  and 
"Luke."  The  "  Onomasticon,"  an  alphabetical  descrip- 
tion of  places  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures. 


ATHANASIUS, 

The  great  Trinitarian.  For  fifty  momentous 
years  he  was  the  central  figure  in  the  Christian 
world.     His  history  is  that  of  the  Church  in  the 


ATHANASIUS. 


33 


most  critical  period  of  its  existence,  when  it  united 
its  interests  with  an  empire,  and  hazarded  the  truth 
in  gaining  outward  prosperity.  Hazarded,  but  did 
not  lose  ;  for,  during  these  years,  above  soldiers  and 
above  emperors,  stood  forth  the  grand  figure  of  this 
champion  of  the  truth.  As  in  the  coalition  the  em- 
peror was  the  state,  so  practically  Athanasius  was 
the  church,  until  the  relations  of  church  and  state 
had  been  so  far  adjusted  that  the  church  could  not 
be  absorbed  or  made  a  mere  department  of  the 
state.  Human  annals  record  no  life  more  abso- 
lutely devoted  to  a  simple  principle.  Fifty  years 
of  battling  and  exile,  the  forces  of  an  empire  against 
him,  and  all  for  an  M  *  Hosius,  after  a  hundred 
years  of  firmness,  yielded.  Liberius,  the  bishop 
of  Rome,  yielded  ;  but,  "  the  whole  world  against 
Athanasius,  and  Athanasius  against  it,"  he  stood 
like  the  rock  on  which  his  feet  were  planted.  There 
were  other  defenders  of  the  truth  in  his  own  age, 
some  of  whom,  after  his  death,  did  more  for  its  log- 
ical adjustment  than  he  had  done ;  but  none  dis- 
pute his  foremost  place.  His  greatness  was  in 
grasping  and  embodying  the  truth,  as  yet  unadjust- 
ed; holding  it  as  in  a  citadel  through  a  period 
when  truth,  resting  only  upon  faith,  must  otherwise 
have  been  lost. 

Athanasius  was  born  about  a.  d.  297.  When  a 
young  man  he  became  secretary  to  Bishop  Alexan- 
der, and  thus  early  began  his  training  for  the  see 
of  Alexandria.  He  first  became  known  to  the  world 
through  his  two  apologetical  books,  "  Against  the 
*  b\kQQ<>aiov  was  the  orthodox,  ofioioxxnov  the  heretical  watch- 
word. 


34  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Gentiles  "  and  "  On  the  Incarnation  of  the  Word," 
the  second  of  which  suggests  the  habit  of  mind  which 
afterward  made  him  the  great  opponent  of  Arian- 
ism.  He  accompanied  Alexander  to  the  Council 
of  Nice,  and,  though  not  a  regular  member  of  that 
body,  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  discussions 
in  the  defense  of  the  apostolic  doctrines.  Five 
months  later  he  was  elected  bishop  of  Alexandria. 
For  a  few  years  the  decision  of  the  council  secured 
tranquillity  ;  but  the  reviving  influence  of  Eusebius 
of  Nicomedia  over  Constantine  led  to  a  new  recog- 
nition of  Arius,  and  to  consequent  opposition  to 
the  Alexandrian  bishop  as  his  most  zealous  antago- 
nist. Charges  were  preferred  against  Athanasius, 
which  caused  him,  a.  d.  335,  to  be  summoned  be- 
fore a  council  at  Tyre.  Justice  being  denied  him 
there,  he  fled  to  Constantinople,  and  in  the  streets 
of  the  capital  appealed  personally  to  the  emperor. 
Owing,  however,  to  fresh  charges  by  his  enemies, 
Constantine  caused  his  banishment  to  Aries,  where 
he  remained  until  a.  d.  338,  when  he  returned 
to  his  people.  The  Emperor  Constantine  yield- 
ing to  the  Arians,  the  Cappadocian  Gregory  was 
in  340  appointed  to  the  see  of  Alexandria,  where- 
upon Athanasius  fled  to  Italy  and  appealed  to 
the  bishop  of  Rome  for  support.  After  six  years 
of  waiting,  during  which  a  council  at  Rome  and 
the  Council  of  Sardica  indorsed  him  and  con- 
demned his  enemies,  Constantine  was  at  last,  upon 
the  death  of  Gregory,  induced  to  restore  him  to 
his  see.  Here  he  remained  until  a.  d.  356,  when 
he  was  driven  forth  to  another  six  years  of  exile, 
which  ended  upon  the  accession  of  the  Emperor 


ATHANASIUS.  35 

Julian.  He  was  expelled  again  for  a  few  months 
toward  the  close  of  this  reign,  and  yet  once  more 
under  the  reign  of  Valens ;  but,  in  February  366, 
he  returned  for  the  last  time.  The  interval  be- 
fore his  death,  in  373,  was  comparatively  undis- 
turbed, and  was  devoted  to  unceasing  labors  in  re- 
futing heretics  and  establishing  the  faithful. 

His  famous  "  Historical  Tracts  "  and  his  chief 
work,  the  "  Orations  against  the  Arians,"  were  writ- 
ten in  intervals  of  his  years  of  battling.  To  the 
more  tranquil  close  of  his  career  belongs  his  "  Life 
of  Anthony." 

Valuable  texts  of  the  "  Tracts  "  and  "  Orations  " 
are  made  easily  accessible  in  Bright's  Oxford  edition. 

TREATISE    AGAINST    THE    GENTILES. 

Athanasius  points  out  the  origin  of  idolatry  in 
human  selfishness,  which  led  man,  made  in  the  im- 
age of  God,  and  free,  to  turn  away  from  contem- 
plating his  Creator  and  regard  himself  and  his  own 
happiness.  This  happiness  he  thought  to  find  in 
the  senses,  and  that  which  gratified  his  passions  he 
called  good.  The  true  idea  of  the  Creator  being 
lost,  he  saw  nothing  beyond  his  senses.  Everything 
became  divine,  and  he  erected  altars  to  the  ele- 
ments, to  heroes,  to  animals,  and  to  things  insensi- 
ble and  even  imaginary.  Then  the  genius  of  the 
several  nations  led  them  to  take  for  their  gods  what- 
ever was  like  their  own  characters.  Poetry  framed 
for  these  gods  customs  adventures,  wants,  and  weak- 
nesses like  our  own,  and  philosophy  gave  credence 
thereto  by  silence  or  by  apologies.  After  showing 
the  extravagance  of  polytheism,  and  that  the  Cre- 
ator is  incorporeal  and  independent,  the  author 
points  out  the  two  natural  ways  of  escaping  idola- 


36  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

try :  through  that  internal  light  which  in  every  man 
points  to  the  one  God,  and  through  the  contempla- 
tion of  nature  in  its  unity.  These,  however,  have 
not  sufficed  for  man  ;  and  so  it  has  been  needful  for 
God  to  make  himself  known  through  his  Word. 


DISCOURSE    ON    THE    INCARNATION. 

The  world  was  not  made  by  chance  nor  from 
pre-existing  matter,  but  by  God  through  his  Word. 
The  fall  of  man,  who,  made  in  God's  image,  ad- 
dicted himself  to  what  was  corrupt,  was  the  cause 
of  the  incarnation.  For,  God  pitying  man,  and 
resolving  to  save  him  and  restore  his  immortality, 
this  could  be  accomplished  in  no  other  way  than  by 
the  sending  of  his  Son  :  i.  Because,  being  the  es- 
sential Image  of  the  Father,  the  Son  alone  could 
render  man  like  God;  2.  Because,  being  the  Wis- 
dom of  God,  he  only  could  teach  men.  After  speak- 
ing of  the  benefits  accruing  from  the  incarnation, 
the  author  suggests  that  the  ignominy  of  the  cross 
was  chosen  to  give  to  Christ's  death  a  solemn  eclat 
commensurate  with  the  extraordinary  character  of 
his  resurrection.  The  fact  of  the  resurrection  is 
proved  by  the  wonderful  conversions  which  are 
wrought  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  conquests  pos- 
sible only  to  one  who  is  alive.  True,  he  is  not  now 
visible  to  our  eyes,  still  he  makes  himself  known. 
The  blind  man  whose  eyes  are  closed  to  the  light 
of  the  sun  none  the  less  feels  the  grateful  warmth 
of  its  rays.  The  incarnation  is  proved  by  an  ap- 
peal to  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy,  to  the  cessation 
of  the  oracles,  and  to  the  authenticity  of  the  mira- 
cles wrought  during  our  Lord's  life  and  after  his 
death.  The  source  of  all  this  truth  is  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  to  understand  which  one  should  live 
like  the  authors  of  these  books. 


ATHANASIUS. 


HISTORICAL    TRACTS. 


37 


As  the  loss  of  Eusebius's  history  would  have  left 
in  obscurity  the  career  through  which  the  Church 
advanced  to  its  important  position  as  a  visible  insti- 
tution, so  the  loss  of  these  "  Tracts "  would  have 
thrown  an  obscuring  cloud  over  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  elaborated,  and  the  determined 
struggle  by  which  it  maintained,  its  fundamental 
teachings.  For,  unlike  our  other  sources  of  informa- 
tion as  to  this  period,  these  writings  of  Athanasius 
give  us  original  documentary  evidence,  of  a  kind 
which  compels  our  acceptance.  The  work  which 
commonly  passes  under  the  above  title  is  a  series  of 
papers  described  as  follows  : 

An  Encyclical  Epistle  addressed  to  all  Bishops  every- 
where. 

This  letter  was  written  by  Athanasius,  a.  d.  341, 
upon  the  coming  of  Gregory,  whom  a  council  at 
Antioch  had  named  bishop  of  Alexandria,  It  re- 
counts Gregory's  violent  seizure  of  churches,  by 
the  aid  of  the  prefect  Philagrius  and  a  furious  mob 
of  heathens  and  Jews,  and  the  outrages  which  fol- 
lowed. The  letter  begins  by  citing  the  Scripture 
story  of  the  Levite's  wife  whose  dismembered  body 
was  sent  to  all  Israel,  and  closes  with  an  earnest 
appeal  to  the  bishops  not  to  allow  the  church  of 
Alexandria  to  be  thus  trodden  down  by  heretics, 
but  to  avenge  its  wrongs  as  being  their  own.  The 
bishops  are  also  enjoined  not  to  receive  any  com- 
munication from  the  Arian  Gregory. 

An  Apology  against  the  Arians. 

This  work,  written  after  the  author's  return  from 
his  second  exile,  is  a  collection  of  numerous  docu- 
ments relating  to  many  of  the  most  important  trans- 
actions of  the   Church  from  a.  d.  300  to  350,  and 
4. 


38  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

vindicating  the  position  of  Athanasius.  The  more 
noteworthy  of  them  are:  i.  "An  Encyclical  from 
the  Egyptian  Bishops."  Whereas  charges  are  made 
that  Athanasius  on  his  return  was  guilty  of  blood- 
shed and  violence,  we  utterly  deny  it.  The  hostil- 
ity of  the  Eusebians  toward  Athanasius  began  be- 
fore the  death  of  Alexander ;  but,  after  the  Council 
of  Nice  and  his  election  to  the  bishopric,  this  oppo- 
sition became  more  malignant.  In  their  council  at 
Tyre  they  charged  him  with  being  elected  clandes- 
tinely, whereas  we  testify  that  it  was  by  a  majority 
of  the  body  of  bishops,  and  with  the  acclamation 
of  all  the  people.  They  now  assert  that  it  was  a 
day  of  mourning  when  he  returned  to  the  city  after 
his  exile,  whereas  it  was  a  day  of  joy,  the  people 
running  together  in  their  eager  desire  to  see  him. 
What  sort  of  a  council  was  that  (of  Tyre)  to  try 
him,  in  which  every  one  was  his  enemy,  and  which 
was  conducted  by  secular  officers.?  There  they 
charged  Athanasius  with  the  murder  of  Arsenius, 
who  is  alive,  and  is  now  seeking  admission  into  the 
Church.  Having  found  this  council  determined  to 
crush  him,  Athanasius  went  himself  to  the  emperor, 
but  was  followed  by  the  bishops,  who,  dropping 
their  former  charges,  falsely  accused  him  of  detain- 
ing the  corn-ships  in  Alexandria.  Thus  they  secured 
his  banishment  to  Gaul.  The  charge  made  at  the 
council  of  the  breaking  of  a  chalice  could  not  be 
proved,  even  though  they  sent  a  hostile  committee 
into  Egypt  to  take  testimony.  The  presbyters  of 
the  Mareotis  deny  it,  and  the  emperor  himself  de- 
clared his  accusers  calumniators.  And  now  Atha- 
nasius is  accused  of  appropriating  to  his  own  uses 
corn  which  was  given  by  the  emperor  for  the  sup- 
port of  widows ;  but  the  widows  themselves  ac- 
knowledge that  they  have  always  received  the  corn. 
The  Eusebians  are  in  league  with  the  Arians  in 
their  wickedness;  wherefore  give  no  heed  to  their 


ATHANASIUS.  39 

communication.  2.  "  Letter  of  Julius  to  the  Euse- 
bians  at  Antioch."  Herein  is  set  forth  that  Atha- 
nasius  was  fully  vindicated  by  a  council  held  at 
Rome.  The  Eusebians,  on  the  contrary,  have  been 
in  communion  with  the  Arians ;  their  proceedings 
against  Athanasius  have  been  of  an  ex  parte  nature; 
and  they  have  in  an  uncanonical  manner  elected 
Gregory  to  the  distant  see  of  Alexandria,  and  caused 
him  to  be  inducted  by  military  force.  Even  bodily 
injuries  have  been  inflicted  on  Catholic  bishops. 
They  must  correct  this  conduct,  for  in  any  case 
they  are  disregarding  the  canons  of  the  Church. 
3.  "Letters  of  the  Council  of  Sardica."  The  Em- 
perors Constantius  and  Constans  caused  the  bishops 
of  the  East  and  West  to  meet  at  Sardica  in  the 
most  considerable  council  between  the  first  and 
second  general  councils.  The  Eastern  bishops, 
who  were  chiefly  Eusebians,  withdrew  on  finding 
themselves  in  the  minority.  The  decisions  of  the 
council  were  set  forth  in  letters  to  the  church  of 
Alexandria  and  to  the  bishops  of  Egypt  and  Libya, 
and  in  an  encyclical.  The  latter  speaks  of  the 
persecution  of  Athanasius  and  Marcellus  of  Ancyra, 
the  unsatisfactory  conduct  of  the  Eusebians  in 
times  past,  and  the  flight  of  the  latter  from  the 
council.  The  proceedings  against  Athanasius  have 
been  ex  parte.  Marcellus  has  in  his  book  effectu- 
ally exposed  the  fraud  of  the  Eusebians  who  have 
accused  him.  Asclepas  also  has  proved  his  inno- 
cence. The  Eusebians  have  received  and  pro- 
moted Arians.  Outrages,  too,  have  been  permitted. 
Accordingly,  Athanasius,  Marcellus,  and  Asclepas 
are  declared  innocent,  and  the  wolves  who  have 
invaded  their  sees  are  excommunicated.  Other 
Eusebian  bishops  the  holy  council  deposes  and  de- 
clares unworthy  to  commune  with  the  faithful.  For, 
as  Arians,  they  come  under  the  rule  concerning 
those  who   preach   another   gospel.     4.    "  Certain 


40  POST-XICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Imperial  and  Ecclesiastical  Acts  and  Letters." 
These  have  to  do  chiefly  with  the  return  of  Atha- 
nasius  to  his  see  after  the  Council  of  Sardica.  5. 
**  Documents  relating  to  Charges  brought  by  the 
Miletians."  This  was  a  disaffected  party  at  Alex- 
andria which  had  been  secured  as  allies  by  the 
Eusebians.  6.  "  Documents  connected  with  the 
Council  of  Tyre."  These  are  such  as  prove  the 
falsity  of  the  charge  about  the  chalice  ;  also,  a  letter 
from  the  Council  of  Jerusalem  calling  upon  the 
church  at  Alexandria  to  receive  the  Arians ;  and 
the  letter  from  Constantine  Caesar  on  the  first  res- 
toration of  Athanasius,  saying  that  the  latter  had 
been  sent  to  Gaul  to  rescue  him  from  his  enemies. 

An  Encyclical  of  Athanasius  to  Bishops  of  Egypt  and 
Libya. 

Written  a.  d.  356,  its  chief  historical  value  is  in 
its  reference  to  an  attempt  of  the  Arians  to  induce 
the  bishops  to  subscribe  one  of  the  Arian  creeds 
devised  by  them  as  a  substitute  for  the  Nicene  sym- 
bol. 

Apology  of  Athanasius  to  Constantius, 

It  was  evidently  written  for  delivery  before  the 
emperor,  though  never  so  delivered,  and  defends 
the  author  among  other  charges  against  imputations 
upon  his  loyalty  since  his  second  return.  Its  date 
is  A.  D.  356. 

Apology  of  Athanasius  for  his  Flight. 

Written  a.  d.  357.  The  outrages  of  Gregory 
were  such  that  the  author  must  have  perished  had 
he  fallen  into  his  hands.  He  therefore  had  taken 
counsel  from  scripture  and  withdrawn,  not  as  fear- 
ing death — for  that  would  have  been  far  more  toler- 
able than   flight — but    that  he    might   continue    to 


ATHANASIUS.  41 

maintain  the  Lord's  cause.  Many  scripture  exam- 
ples of  such  flight,  including  our  Lord's,  afford  au- 
thority for  this  action. 

Epistle  to  Serapion  on  the  Death  of  Arius. 

After  Arius  had  sworn  before  Constantius  that 
he  held  (opOiog)  the  right  faith,  and  did  not  profess 
the  opinions  for  which  Alexander  (of  Alexandria) 
had  excommunicated  him,  his  friends  contended 
that  he  should  be  allowed  to  commune  with  them 
the  next  day  in  the  bishop's  church.  But  Bishop 
Alexander  (of  Constantinople)  in  great  anxiety 
prayed  to  God,  lying  on  the  chancel  pavement : 
"  If  Arius  is  brought  to  communion  to-morrow, 
let  me  thy  servant  depart,  and  destroy  not  the 
pious  with  the  impious ;  but,  if  thou  wilt  spare  thy 
Church,  look  upon  the  words  of  the  Eusebians,  and 
give  not  their  inheritance  to  destruction  and  re- 
proach, and  take  off  Arius."  Before  the  time  for 
communion,  Arius  died  suddenly,  whereby  the  Lord 
condemned  the  Arian  heresy,  and  showed  it  to  be 
unworthy  of  communion  with  the  Church. 

History  of  the  Arians, 

This  work  continues  the  account  given  in  the 
"Apology  against  the  Arians  "  down  to  a.  d.  357. 
It  begins  by  speaking  of  the  Eusebians  as  admit- 
ting the  Arians  to  communion,  and  causing  the 
banishment  of  Eustathius  of-Antioch,  Marcellus 
of  Ancyra,  Eutropius  of  Adrianople,  and  Paul  of 
Constantinople,  the  latter  being  cruelly  put  to  death. 
Seeing  themselves  declining  in  numbers  and  pow- 
er, the  Eusebians,  after  failing  to  get  satisfaction 
through  a  council,  appealed  to  Constantius  to  assist 
them  by  appointing  Philagrius  prefect,  and  naming 
Gregory  as  bishop  of  Alexandria.  Gregory  was 
inducted  into  this  position  by  force,  and  perpetrat- 


42  POST-NICENE  GREEK  FA  THERS, 

ed  great  cruelties.  Athanasius,  meantime,  went  to 
Rome,  where  a  council  of  fifty  bishops  received 
him  and  denounced  the  Eusebians.  The  emperors 
Constantius  and  Constans  having  united  in  calling 
a  council  at  Sardica,  that  council  also  vindicated 
Athanasius.  The  Eusebians  who  had  withdrawn 
from  Sardica  went  on  with  their  cruelties,  having 
the  secular  power  in  their  favor.  At  last  their  shame- 
lessness  turned  Constantius  against  them,  and  he 
sent  for  Athanasius  to  come  to  Antioch.  Dismissing 
him  thence  to  return  to  Alexandria,  the  emperor 
swore  solemnly  that  he  would  never  again  listen  to 
accusations  against  him.  The  peace  which  followed, 
however,  did  not  endure.  Upon  going  to  the  West 
after  the  overthrow  of  Maxentius,  Constantius  took 
sides  again  with  the  Arians  at  Aries  and  Milan. 
Word  was  sent  to  Alexandria  that  the  government 
supplies  of  corn  should  be  taken  from  Athanasius 
and  delivered  to  the  Arians,  Orders  were  also  sent 
to  all  the  cities,  requiring  the  bishops  either  to 
subscribe  against  Athanasius  and  hold  communion 
with  the  Arians,  or  to  go  into  banishment.  By 
threats  and  promises  many  were  thus  induced  to 
subscribe.  Among  notable  confessors  who  refused 
were  four  who,  in  the  very  presence  of  Constantius, 
urged  that  this  novel  procedure  was  contrary  to  the 
canons.  To  this  the  monarch  replied  :  "  Whatever 
I  will,  be  that  esteemed  a  canon ;  the  bishops  of 
Syria  let  me  speak  for  them.  Either,  then,  obey  or 
be  banished."  Liberius,  bishop  of  Rome,  long  re- 
sisted, but  at  last,  after  two  years  of  banishment, 
and  upon  threats  of  death,  he  subscribed.  Hosius, 
who  presided  at  the  councils  of  Nice  and  Sardica, 
now  a  hundred  years  old,  after  persistent  refusals, 
was  finally  compelled  to  commune  with  Valens  and 
Ursacius,  two  Arian  champions.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, subscribe  against  Athanasius,  whom,  he  said, 
"we  and  the  church  of  the  Romans  and  the  whole 


ATHANASIUS.  43 

council  pronounced  to  be  guiltless."  Most  earnest 
efforts  were  now  made  against  the  church  of  Alex- 
andria, from  which  Athanasius  quietly  withdrew. 
Senators  and  magistrates  and  wardens  of  heathen 
temples  (!)  were  compelled  to  agree  to  receive  as 
bishop  whomsoever  the  emperor  should  send.  An 
attack  was  made  on  the  great  church ;  the  worship- 
ers were  shockingly  abused,  and  the  sacred  utensils 
were  carried  into  the  street  and  burned,  while  frank- 
incense was  thrown  on  the  flames,  and  shouts  went 
up,  "  Constantius  has  become  a  heathen  !  "  A  gen- 
eral persecution  followed,  in  which  many  endured 
martyrdom.  Constantius,  who  thus  persecuted  the 
faithful,  is  worse  than  Saul  or  Ahab  or  Pilate.  This 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  however,  of  one  who  has 
acted  so  murderously  toward  his  own  family.  He 
has  now  begun  the  work  of  replacing  the  bishops  of 
Egypt  and  Libya  with  Arians,  and  disorder  every- 
where prevails.  It  is  not  simply  persecution,  but  a 
prelude  to  the  coming  of  Antichrist.  To  the  sees 
of  venerable  bishops  are  nominated  profligate  hea- 
then youths,  and  men  accused  of  crimes,  who  have 
gained  these  places  by  money  or  through  political 
influence.  Surely  Constantius  lacks  no  one  of  the 
marks  of  Antichrist. 


The  Councils  of  Arijninutn  and  Seleucia. 

Urged  by  Ursacius  and  Valens,  the  emperor  first 
issued  a  call  for  a  general  council  to  meet  at  Nice ; 
but  afterward  the  Western  bishops  were  convoked 
at  x\riminum,  the  Eastern  at  Seleucia.  There  was  no 
occasion  for  this  council,  which  brought  contempt 
upon  the  Church,  as  not  yet  knowing  its  own  faith. 
The  division  of  a  general  council,  too,  was  an  un- 
heard-of thing  ;  though  this  in  the  end  led  to  good. 
There  was  a  call  for  the  Nicene  Council  to  fix  the 
Easter  festival  and  to  rebut  a  specific  heresy,  but 


44  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

now  no  new  heresy  had  arisen.  The  true  aim  of 
the  originators  of  the  council  was  simply  to  over- 
throw the  Nicene  doctrine.  At  Ariminum  there 
gathered  four  hundred  bishops.  Ursacius  and  Va- 
lens  produced  a  paper,  substantially  the  third  Sirmi- 
an  creed,  and  demanded  its  adoption.  The  council 
first  required  that  the  proposers  should  anathematize 
the  Arians,  and,  when  they  refused  it,  declared  in 
favor  of  the  Nicene  creed,  and  published  a  decree 
condemning  and  deposing  Ursacius  and  Valens  and 
three  of  their  companions.  The  fathers  also  wrote 
to  Constantius,  announcing  their  action,  and  pray- 
ing for  liberty  to  dissolve  and  go  home.* 

At  Seleucia  one  hundred  and  sixty  bishops  were 
present.  The  semi-Arian  party  predominated,  and 
they  accepted  the  Nicene  doctrine,  save  that  they 
complained  of  the  term  "  consubstantial  "  as  ob- 
scure and  open  to  suspicion.  They  deposed  and 
excommunicated  Acasius  and  many  others  of  the 
extreme  Arians. 

Various  statements  of  Arian  doctrine  were  made 
in  Arius's  "  Thalia,"  f  and  in  letters  and  papers  of 
the  Eusebii  and  others,  prior  to  any  official  recogni- 
tion of  the  party.  In  a.  d.  335  the  council  which 
convened  at  Jerusalem  for  the  dedication  of  Con- 
stantine's  magnificent  church  issued  a  letter,  declar- 
ing that  Arius  and  his  friends  had  been  received  to 

*  They  were  subsequently  forced  to  accept  an  Arian  creed. 
\  Part  of  the  extract  given  by  Athanasius: 
"  Thus  there  is  a  Three,  not  in  equal  glories. 

Not  intermingling  with  each  other  are  their  subsistences. 
One  more  glorious  than  the  other  in  their  glories  unto  im- 
mensity. 
Foreign  from  the  Son  in  substance  is  the  Father,  for  he  is 

unoriginate. 
Understand  that  the  One  was  ;  but  the  Two  was  not  before 

it  was  in  existence. 
It  follows  at  once  that,  though  the  Son  wa";  not,  the  Fatlier 
was  God.*' 


ATHANASIUS.  45 

communion.  Subsequently  eleven  Arian  and  semi- 
Arian  creeds  were  published,  as  follows  :  i.  A  short 
Eusebian  creed,  promulgated  by  the  Council  of  An- 
tioch,  A.  D.  342.  2.  A  fuller  semi-Arian  creed  by 
the  same  council,  known  as  the  Formulary  of  the 
Dedication.  3.  A  confession  presented  by  Theo- 
phronius  of  Tyana  and  accepted  by  this  council. 
4.  A  negative  confession  prepared  a  few  months 
later  by  these  Antiochian  bishops  and  sent  into 
Gaul  to  the  Emperor  Constans.  5.  Three  years 
later  the  elaborate  semi-Arian  Macrostich  creed 
was  prepared  and  sent  into  Italy.  6.  The  first  Sir- 
mian  creed,  a.  d.  351.  It  was  semi-Arian,  the  con- 
fession being  the  same  as  in  the  last  two  creeds,  the 
difference  being  in  the  anathemas.  7.  The  second 
Sirmian,  a.  d.  357.  It  was  Arian,  and  was  the  one 
which  Hosius  was  tortured  into  signing.  8.  A  third 
Sirmian  creed,  bearing  the  date  of  the  consulate, 
was  suppressed  by  an  edict  of  the  emperor,  at  the 
suggestion  of  its  authors.  9.  The  Arian  creed  of- 
fered by  the  Acasians  to  the  Council  of  Seleucia, 
a.  d.  359,  and  rejected  in  favor  of  a  semi-Arian 
position.  10.  The  Arian  creed  imposed  upon  the 
council  at  Ariminum.  11.  An  extreme  Arian  con- 
fession made  at  Antioch,  a.  d.  361,  in  which  it  is 
said  that  "  the  Son  is  altogether  unlike  the  Father." 
The  semi-Arians  are  not  to  be  regarded  by  the 
Catholics  as  enemies  but  as  brothers.  They  rightly 
allege  that  the  council  against  the  Samosatene 
rejected  the  term  "  one  in  substance."  We  can 
say  that  the  older  authorities  employed  it ;  but  the 
term  as  used  and  as  rejected  had  different  mean- 
ings. The  allowable  one  was  affirmed  by  the  Nicene 
Council.  We  would  have  these  blessed  men,  who 
are  truly  religious,  and  ourselves  to  be  at  one. 
They  with  us  recognize  the  many  Scripture  titles 
giving  the  Son  unity  with  the  Father.  Yet  we  must 
take  care  lest,  giving  these  [divine]  properties  to  a 


46  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FA  THERS. 

foreign  substance,  we  make  two  Gods.  Pray  then 
that,  the  Arian  heresy  being  done  away,  there  may 
be  in  the  Church  "  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism." 


EPISTLE    IN    DEFENSE    OF    THE    NICENE    DEFINITIONS. 

The  Eusebians,  having  in  the  council  been  con- 
victed of  error,  accepted  the  definition,  and  Euse- 
bius  of  Caesarea  wrote  to  his  people  of  his  accept- 
ance. They  are  now  committing  a  crime  who 
gainsay  the  decree  of  an  oecumenical  council.  Son- 
ship  has  two  meanings:  i,  Sonship  by  adoption, 
or  attained  through  merit ;  and,  2,  Substantial  son- 
ship.  The  second  is  the  Catholic  definition ;  the 
divine  generation,  however,  being  not  material  but 
spiritual.  The  very  Scripture  names  of  the  Son — 
Word,  Wisdom,  Power,  etc.  —  imply  his  divinity. 
The  Arian  expressions,  *'out  of  nothing,"  "  once 
he  was  not,"  etc.,  are  not,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
be  found  in  Scripture.  To  prevent  misunderstand- 
ing, the  fathers  in  the  council  insisted  upon  the 
expression  "  from  the  substance  of  the  Father,"  in- 
stead of  the  Eusebian  "from  the  Father."  They 
also  introduced  "  one  in  substance "  instead  of 
"  like,"  in  order  to  negative  all  such  terms  as 
*' created,"  "alterable,"  etc.  But  every  corporeal 
thought  is  to  be  banished  from  this  subject. 

In  support  of  the  definition  of  the  council, 
Theognostus,  a  disciple  of  Origen,  used  the  phrase 
"  of  the  substance  " ;  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  af- 
firmed that  the  Son  was  "  one  in  substance  "  with 
God  ;  Dionysius  of  Rome  declared  that,  as  opposed 
alike  to  Sabellius  and  to  the  existence  of  three 
foreign  substances,  a  Trinity  was  preached  by  the 
Scriptures  but  not  three  Gods.  Nor  must  our  Lord 
be  called  a  "work  "  as  being  created  ;  Origen,  "  the 
labor-loving  man,"  established  "  the  everlasting  co- 


ATHANASIUS.  47 

existence  of  the  Word  with  the  Father,  and  that 
he  is  not  of  another  substance  or  subsistence  but 
proper  to  the  Father."  In  the  face  of  these  the 
Arians  can  cite  no  father  of  understanding  and 
wisdom.  The  Arian  term  "  ingenerate,"  borrowed 
from  the  Greek,  should  give  place  to  the  Scripture 
term  "  Father,"  since  baptism  is  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 

ORATIONS     AGAINST    THE    ARIANS. 

Discourse  I. 

Arians,  though  affecting  the  use  of  the  Script- 
ures, are  not  Christians,  but  Ario-maniacs,  since 
they  take  the  name  of  another  founder  than  Christ, 
and  follow  the  dissolute  metres  of  the  "Thalia"* 
rather  than  Scripture.  Since  some  are  misled  by 
Arian  statements,'  I  will  put  some  questions.  The 
points  at  issue  are  shown  in  the  counter-statement 
of  our  faith.^ 

To  the  assertion,  "  There  was  once  when  he  was 
not,"  we  reply:  i.  The  Scriptures  make  the  Son 
co-eternal  with  the  Father  (John  i,  i,  etc.).  The 
Arian  phrases,  "he  was  not,"  "before,"  are  used  by 
Scripture  as  appertaining  to  creatures,  but  are  alien 
to  the  Word.  2.  As  being  proper  Son  of  God,  he 
is  eternal;  for  God  was  never  imperfect  nor  unlike 
himself;  yet  saying  "  once  the  Son  was  not,"  they 
rob  God  of  his  Word,  the  Light  of  its  Radiance, 
i.  e.,  make  him  unlike  himself  But  they  say  that 
the  Son  is  not  of  the  substance  of  the  Father  but 
"  from  nothing  "  and  ^'  Son  by  participation  "  Par- 
ticipation of  what.^  we  ask.     Surely  of  nothing  ex- 

*  In  this   "  Thalia,"  his  chief  work,  Arius  thus  refers  to 
himself : 
"  Along  their  track  have  I  walked  with  like  opinions, 

I,  the  very  famous,  the  much  suffering  for  God's  glory; 

And  taught  of  God,  I  have  acquired  wisdom  and  knowledge." 


48  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ternal  to  the  Father,  else  he  would  not  even  be 
second  to  him,  but  of  his  substance.  So,  being 
proper  Son,  he  is  eternal.  3.  As  Creator,  the  Son 
is  not  of  a  foreign  substance,  but  consubstantial 
and  eternal ;  also  as  one  of  the  Trinity,  which 
never  began  to  be  ;  and  as  Wisdom,  for  God  is  ever- 
more the  Fountain  of  wisdom ;  and  as  the  Word 
through  whom  are  all  things,  for  as  such  he  is  not 
one  of  the  all ;  and  again  as  the  Image  of  the 
Father. 

The  popular  Arian  arguments  are  as  follows: 
"  He  who  is,  did  he  make  him  who  was  not  from 
him  who  is,  or  him  who  was  1  Therefore,  did  he 
make  the  Son  whereas  he  was,  or  whereas  he  was 
not .'  "  And  again,  "  Is  the  Ingenerate  one  or  two  1  " 
and,  "  Has  he  free-will,  and  yet  does  not  alter  at  his 
own  choice  as  being  of  an  alterable  nature  .^  for  he 
is  not  as  a  stone  to  remain  by  himself  unmovable." 
Next  they  turn  to  women  and  address  them  in  turn 
in  this  womanish  language :  "  Hadst  thou  a  son 
before  bearing.?  now,  as  thou  hadst  not,  neither  was 
the  Son  of  God  before  his  generation."  We  answer 
to  the  first,  An  architect  can  not  build  without  mate- 
rials, but  God  can;  and  so  he  begets  not  as  man 
but  as  God.  Again,  the  question  is  irrelevant,  since 
both  "  what  is  "  becomes,  as  in  the  c^se  of  man 
made  from  the  earth,  and  "what  is  not"  becomes, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  earth  from  which  man  was 
made.  Their  talk  is  thus  only  sophism.  But  we 
ask  a  counter-question  to  show  their  absurdities, 
viz.,  "  God  who  is,  has  he  so  become  whereas  he 
was  not,  or  is  he  also  before  his  generation  ?  whereas 
he  is,  did  he  make  himself,  or  is  he  of  nothing,  and 
being  nothing  before  did  he  suddenly  appear  him- 
self?" Such  an  inquiry  is  indecent,  yea  indecent 
and  very  blasphemous,  yet  parallel  with  theirs ;  for 
the  answer  they  make  abounds  in  irreligion.  But, 
if  it  be  blasphemous  and  utterly  irreligious  thus  to 


ATHANASIUS. 


49 


inquire  about  God,  it  will  be  blasphemous  too  to 
make  the  like  inquiries  about  his  Word.  The  true 
answer  is,  that  whereas  God  is  he  was  eternally; 
since  then  the  Father  is  ever,  his  radiance  ever  is, 
which  is  his  Word.  In  answer  to  the  second  soph- 
ism we  inquire,  If  the  "  time  "  idea  in  generation  is 
recognized,  why  not  also  the  proper  likeness,  i.  e., 
that  a  son  is  from  one's  own  self,  not  from  without 
as  a  boughten  slave  ?  And  what  is  to  hinder  God 
from  being  always  Father  ?  Again,  let  them  inquire 
of  the  sun  concerning  its  radiance.  If  they  co- 
exist, so  do  the  Son  and  the  Father.  The  divine 
generation  is  not  as  that  of  man,  nor  must  the  Son 
be  thought  a  part  of  God.  Uniting  the  two  ti- 
tles Son  and  Word,  "  Scripture  speaks  of  '  Son,' 
in  order  to  herald  the  offspring  of  his  (God's) 
substance  natural  and  true;  and  on  the  other 
hand  that  none  may  think  of  the  offspring  hu- 
manly, while  signifying  his  substance  it  also  calls 
him  Word,  Wisdom,  and  Radiance,  to  teach  us  that 
the  generation  was  impassible  and  eternal  and 
worthy  of  God."  To  our  assertion  that  God  was 
always  a  Father,  men  object,  "  Then  always  a  Cre- 
ator, and  the  world  is  eternal."  But  no,  for  a  work 
is  external  to  the  nature  of  the  worker,  but  a  son 
is  of  the  substance  of  his  father ;  a  man  may  be 
called  a  maker,  though  his  work  do  not  yet  exist, 
but  he  is  not  a  father  without  a  son. 

The  Arian  question  "  Is  the  Ingenerate  one  or 
two.'*"  is  not  asked  for  the  honor  of  the  Father, 
but  for  the  dishonor  of  the  Son.  "  Ingenerate  " 
has  various  meanings,  and  so  must  be  defined.  If 
one  means  by  it  "  what  is  not  made,  but  is  ever," 
we  say  that  the  Son  is  ingenerate  as  the  Father.  If 
"  existing  but  not  generated  nor  having  a  father," 
the  term  belongs  to  the  Father  alone.  Nothing, 
however,  is  to  be  made  of  this.  The  right  use  of 
the  word  ingenerate  is  as  a  correlative  to  things 
5 


50  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

created  or  generated ;  whereas  the  correlative  to 
son  is  father.  The  more  pious  usage,  therefore,  is 
to  call  God  Father,  just  in  proportion  as  the  Word 
surpasses  things  created.  We  are  not  taught  to 
pray"0  God  Ingenerate,"  but  "Our  Father  who 
art  in  heaven."  We  are  not  baptized  into  the  In- 
generate, but  into  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost. 
In  the  question  about  the  free-will  of  the  Son  they 
simply  trifle.  The  antithesis  which  they  make  is 
not  a  true  one.  He  has  free-will,  but  he  is  not 
alterable,  since  he  is  the  Image  of  the  Father.  Wit- 
ness the  Scripture,  "  They  shall  perish,  but  thou  re- 
main est;  they  shall  be  changed,  but  thou  art  the 
same." 

The  remainder  of  Oration  I  is  devoted  to  the  true 
interpretation  of  three  texts  cited  by  Arius  to  prove 
the  Son  alterable,  viz.,  Phil,  ii,  9,  10.  Here  "  ex- 
alted "  refers  to  his  human  nature,  just  as  he  was 
"  humbled  "  in  the  incarnation.  Psalm  xlv,  7,  8. 
The  "  anointed  "  is  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  become 
such  for  us.  Hebrews  i,  4:  "Better"  does  not 
compare,  but  contrasts,  as  different  in  nature.  "  Be- 
ing made  "  is  not  spoken  of  the  substance  of  the 
Son,  but  refers  to  the  incarnation. 


Discourse  II. 

The  argument  in  this  discourse  and  the  next  is 
to  show  that  the  Son,  the  Word,  is  not  a  work  or 
creature,  as  is  urged  by  the  Arians  from  various 
passages  of  Scripture  which  are  here  expounded, 
viz.,  Hebrews  iii,  2.  This  is  only  a  verbal  objec- 
tion. The  question  is.  Is  the  Lord  Son,  Word,  Wis- 
dom .?  This  decided,  "  made "  has  the  meaning 
"begat."  He  was  made  in  becoming  man,  not  as 
the  Word.  Acts  ii,  36  :  i.  e.,  manifested  him  to  us. 
Prov.  viii,  22.  As  introductory  to  this  passage,  it  is 
shown  that  God  could  not  have  created  the  Word 


ATHANASIUS.  51 

as  a  medium  of  creation  ;  else  there  must  be  an 
endless  series  of  media.  The  Father  operates  in 
the  Word,  but  through  his  creatures.  The  text  re- 
fers to  the  Word  becoming  flesh  for  the  work  of  re- 
deeming men  from  sin.'  "  He  founded  me  before 
the  worlds  "  in  the  context  refers  to  the  eternally 
proposed  mediatorship  of  Christ. 

Discourse  III. 

Here  are  expounded  John  xiv,  10;  xvii,  3,  11; 
iii,  35;  xii,  27;  Matt,  xxviii,  18;  xxvi,  39;  Mark 
xiii,  32  ;  Luke  ii,  52.  The  rule  of  faith  is  said  to 
be  easily  determined,  "  if  we  now  consider  the  drift 
of  that  faith  which  we  Christians  hold,  and,  using 
it  as  a  rule,  apply  ourselves  as  the  Apostle  teaches 
to  the  reading  of  inspired  Scripture."  Returning, 
then,  to  Arian  objections,  it  is  replied,  to  the  asser- 
tion that  the  Son  exists  by  the  will  of  the  Father, 
that  then  there  must  be  another  Word  before  him. 
Rather,  the  Son  exists  by  nature.  He  is  the  will, 
not  by  the  will  of  the  Father. 

Discourse  IV. 

The  Father  and  Son  are  two,  yet  the  unity  of 
the  Godhead  is  indivisible,  and  we  preserve  one 
origin ;  whence  there  is  a  divine  monarchy.  And 
there  is  one  substance,  the  Word  being  substantive, 
not  a  sound.  The  Word  also  is  from  God.  Since, 
now,  that  which  is  from  another  can  not  be  that 
which  it  is,  the  Father  and  Son  must  be  two.  And 
they  are  one  because  the  Son  is  not  from  without, 
but  begotten  of  God ;  they  are  one  through  their 
consubstantiality."  Sabellians  fell  into  the  same  er- 
ror with  the  Arians  in  saying  that  the  Son  was  de- 
veloped— not  created — that  God  through  him  might 
create  us.  This  involves  the  prior  inactivity,  and 
so  the  imperfection,  of  God.     The  theory  of  dilata- 


52  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

tion,  by  which  one  becomes  three,  implies  passibility 
in  God,  the  cause  being  either  the  creation  or  the 
incarnation.  If  the  former,  it  involves  the  cessation 
of  creation  ;  if  the  latter,  the  Father  became  flesh. 

The  Word  being  from  the  Father,  surely  he  is 
the  Son.  This  is  proved  by  Scripture  appellations 
of  the  Word  and  the  Son.  The  Son  is  not  the 
man  whom  the  Word  bore,  since  the  Son  made  the 
worlds.  Nor  is  the  Word  and  the  man  the  Son, 
since  the  Son  was  before  the  flesh.  Nor,  again,  is  the 
Son  the  Word  become  man.  The  Old  Testament  as 
well  as  the  New  names  the  Son.  The  Sabellian 
view  leads  to  the  destroying  of  the  grace  of  baptism 
and  to  the  annihilation  of  creation  ;  i  John  i,  and 
Psalm  ex,  3,  prove  that  the  Son  had  no  beginning 
of  being.  Therefore,  God  the  Word  himself  is 
Christ  from  Mary,  God  and  man  .  .  .  seen,  I  say, 
not  in  his  invisible  Godhead,  but  in  the  operation 
of  the  Godhead  through  the  human  body  and  whole 
man,  which  he  has  renewed  by  appropriation  to 
himself.  To  him  be  the  adoration  and  the  worship, 
who  was  before  and  ever  shall  be,  even  to  all  ages. 
Amen. 

EXTRACTS   FROM    ORATIONS. 

I.  "And  the  mockeries  which  he  prates  in  it, 
repulsive  and  most  impious,  are  such  as  these  :  '  God 
was  not  always  a  Father,  but  there  was  when  God 
was  alone  and  not  yet  a  Father,  and  afterward  he 
became  a  Father.  The  Son  was  not  always,  for,  all 
things  being  made  out  of  nothing,  and  all  existing 
creatures  and  works  being  made,  even  the  Word  of 
God  himself  was  made  out  of  nothing,  and  there 
was  when  he  was  not ;  and  he  was  not  before  his 
generation,  but  he  too  had  a  beginning  of  creation. 
For  God,'  he  says,  '  was  alone,  and  the  Word  as  yet 
was  not  nor  the  Wisdom.  Then,  wishing  to  form 
us,  he  thereupon  made  a  certain  one,  and  named 


ATHANASIUS. 


53 


him  Word  and  Wisdom  and  Son,  that  through  him 
he  might  form  us.  Accordingly,'  he  says,  '  there  are 
two  wisdoms  ;  first,  that  which  is  truly  co-existent 
with  God,  but  in  this  Wisdom  the  Son  was  gen- 
erated, and  simply  as  partaking  of  it  was  named 
Wisdom  and  Word.  For  Wisdom,*  he  says,  'by 
the  will  of  the  wise  God  began  to  be  in  Wisdom.' 
So,  also,  he  says  that  there  is  another  Word  in  God 
besides  the  Son,  and  the  Son,  again,  as  having  part 
in  it,  is  himself  by  grace  called  Word  and  Son. 
And  this,  too,  is  an  idea  belonging  to  their  heresy, 
as  shown  in  other  works  of  theirs  :  that  there  are 
many  powers,  one  of  which  is  God's  own  by  nat- 
ure and  eternal ;  but  that  Christ,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  not  the  true  power  of  God,  but  he  too  is  one  of 
the  so-called  powers,  one  of  which,  '  the  locust  and 
the  caterpillar,'  is  called  not  only  the  '  power  '  but  the 
*  great '  power.  The  others  are  many,  and  like  the 
Son,  of  whom  David  sings,  saying.  The  Lord  of 
power  [or  of  hosts].  And  by  nature,  like  all,  so  too 
the  Word  is  alterable,  and  by  his  own  will,  so  long 
as  he  chooses,  remains  good  ;  when,  however,  he 
will,  he  too  like  us  can  alter,  being  of  an  alterable 
nature.  '  For  God,  on  this  account,'  he  says,  '  as 
foreknowing  that  he  would  be  good,  in  anticipation, 
bestowed  upon  him  this  glory  which  afterward  as 
a  man  he  possessed  from  virtue.  Thus  from  his 
works  which  he  foreknew,  God  caused  that  he  being 
such  should  come  to  be.'  " — Orat.  /,  sec.  5. 

2,  "  For  behold  we  speak  freely  from  the  divine 
Scriptures  concerning  the  religious  faith,  and  set  it 
up  as  a  candle  upon  a  candlestick,  saying,  '  He  is 
very  Son  of  the  Father,  natural  and  genuine,  proper 
to  his  substance  ;  Wisdom  only-begotten,  and  very 
and  only  Word  of  God  is  he ;  he  is  not  creature 
nor  work,  but  proper  offspring  of  the  substance  of 
the  Father.  Wherefore  he  is  my  God,  being  one 
in  substance  with  the  very  Father.     But  others,  to 


54  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

whom  he  said,  *  I  said,  Ye  are  gods,'  had  this  grace 
from  the  Father  only  by  participation  of  the  Word 
through  the  Spirit.  For  he  is  the  impress  of  the 
Father's  essence,  and  light  from  light,  and  power, 
and  very  image  of  the  Father's  substance.  For 
this  again  the  Lord  said,  '  He  that  hath  seen  me 
hath  seen  the  Father.'  And  he  ever  was  and  is, 
and  never  was  not.  For  the  Father  being  everlast- 
ing, everlasting  must  be  his  Word  and  Wisdom.'  " — 
Orat.  /,  sec.  9. 

3.  "  Besides,  the  good  reason  of  what  was  done 
is  apparent  thus  :  If  [God]  had  spoken  in  his  power, 
and  the  curse  had  been  dissolved,  the  power  of  him 
who  commanded  would  have  been  shown,  but  man 
would  have  become  like  Adam  before  the  trans- 
gression, receiving  grace  from  without,  and  not 
having  it  united  to  the  bcdy — for  he  was  such  when 
he  was  placed  in  Paradise — and  even  perhaps  would 
have  become  worse,  because  he  had  learned  to 
transgress.  Being  then  such  a  one,  if  he  had  been 
seduced  by  the  serpent  there  would  again  have  been 
need  that  God  give  command  and  break  the  curse ; 
and  thus  the  need  would  have  been  interminable, 
and  men  would  have  remained  not  less  guilty,  as 
being  enslaved  by  sin  ;  and,  ever  sinning,  they 
would  ever  have  needed  one  to  pardon,  and  would 
never  have  become  free,  being  of  themselves  flesh, 
and  always  overcome  by  the  law  on  account  of  the 
infirmity  of  the  flesh." — Oj-at.  JI,  sec.  68. 

4.  "'I  and  the  Father  are  one.'  Two  are  one, 
you  say,  either  as  one  has  two  names,  or  as  one  is 
divided  into  two.  If,  now,  the  one  is  divided  into 
two,  of  necessity  what  is  divided  is  a  body,  and 
neither  is  perfect,  for  each  is  a  part  and  not  a  whole. 
But,  if  one  have  two  names,  this  is  the  explanation 
of  Sabellius,  who  said  that  the  Father  and  the  Son 
are  the  same,  and  denied  each,  the  Father  when 
the  Son  [was  confessed]    and   the   Son    when    the 


A  THAN  A  SI  us.  55 

Fatner.  If  the  two  are  one,  necessarily,  while  there 
are  tAvo,  there  is  one  according  to  the  godhead  and 
according  to  the  consubstantiality  of  the  Son  with 
the  Father,  and  the  Word  being  from  the  Father 
himself;  thus  there  are  two  because  there  is  Father 
and  Son  that  is  the  Word,  but  one  because  there  is 
one  God." — Oral.  /F,  sec.  9. 

LETTER  UPON  THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

This  letter  to  Marcellinus  observes  that  the 
Psalms  have  a  peculiar  character  and  grace,  in  that 
there  is  no  one  who  may  not  in  them  find  himself 
with  his  various  passions  and  changeable  will,  to- 
gether with  the  means  of  calming  the  first  and  fixing 
the  second.  The  other  Scripture  books  teach  us 
to  do  good  and  shun  evil,  or  of  the  coming  of  the 
Saviour,  or  about  the  lives  of  kings  and  holy  men. 
While  not  lacking  in  these  particulars,  the  Psalms 
acquaint  us  with  ourselves,  and  teach  us  to  contend 
with  our  spiritual  maladies.  We  have  been  taught 
to  be  penitent,  to  submit  to  adversities,  to  be  thank- 
ful to  God  ;  here  we  are  taught  how  to  practice  these 
graces.  We  have  had  the  examples  of  others  cited 
to  us  that  we  may  emulate  them  ;  here  we  are  taught 
how  to  identify  these  with  ourselves.  When  on 
earth,  Jesus  Christ  gave  us,  in  his  own  virtues,  the 
most  admirable  example  to  follow ;  but  before  his 
advent  he  had  given  us  the  Psalms  as  the  most  per- 
fect code  of  the  virtues  which  we  should  practice. 
Being  prophetic,  historic,  moral,  and  devotional  (as 
is  shown  by  the  author's  classification),  they  are 
suited  to  all  the  varying  circumstances  and  wants 
of  life.  *'  This  book  alone  sufifices  for  all  the  needs 
of  the  heart ;  .  .  .  whether  one  desires  to  give  him- 
self up  to  the  emotions  of  contrition  and  penitence, 
or  is  tried  by  temptation  or  by  adversity,  as  the  ob- 
ject of  enmity,  or  delivered  from  some  peril,  in  sor- 


56  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

row  or  in  joy,  the  Psalms  furnish  to  the  soul  that 
which  strengthens  or  consoles ;  they  afford  in  abun- 
dance expressions  of  praise,  of  gratitude,  of  blessing 
toward  the  Lord ;  and  the  language  of  the  prophet 
becomes  one's  own. 

"  Take  heed  not  to  add  to  the  words  of  the 
Psalms  the  pomp  of  strange  ornament,  as  if  they 
needed  the  artifices  of  eloquence.  It  is  permitted 
neither  to  transpose  the  expression  nor  to  alter  the 
text.  They  should  be  recited  and  sung  as  they  are 
written,  in  order  that  the  holy  persons  who  have 
transmitted  them  to  us  as  simple  depositaries,  recog- 
nizing their  own  language,  may  pray  with  us ;  that, 
above  all,  the  Holy  Spirit,  who  has  spoken  by  their 
mouth,  finding  again  the  same  words  which  he  com- 
municated to  them  by  his  divine  inspiration,  may 
accord  to  us,  as  to  them,  his  all-powerful  aid." 

LIFE    OF    ANTHONY. 

Anthony  had  commended  himself  to  Athana- 
sius  by  a  visit  to  Alexandria  to  oppose  the  Arians 
when  upward  of  a  hundred  years  old ;  and  the 
monks  of  the  desert  had  been  the  patriarch's  stanch- 
est  friends  in  his  fugitive  days.  This  panegyric, 
therefore,  solicited  from  Athanasius  by  monks  out- 
side of  Egypt,  was  written  with  the  most  entire 
sympathy  with  the  man  and  with  his  order.  It  is 
rather,  says  Eugene  Fialon,  a  poem  of  Saint  An- 
thony than  a  life.  "  It  is,  in  fact,  less  the  life  and 
the  eulogy  of  a  man  than  an  ideal  picture  of  a  great 
institution."  The  work  is  of  value  to  us  as  exhib- 
iting the  literalness  of  Athanasius's  conception  of 
Anthony's  temptations.  Our  author  was  certainly 
not  lacking  in  sound  judgment  nor  devoid  of  the 
critical  faculty,  yet  the  supernatural  appearances 
of  demons  and  their  violence  toward  the  holy  father 
of  the  monks  seem  not  incredible  to  him. 


ATHANASIUS. 


57 


A  few  sayings  of  Anthony's  might  well  be  popu- 
larly known.  "  Do  not  wonder,"  said  he  to  his 
monks,  "  that  an  emperor  writes  to  us ;  he  is  only  a 
man.  Be  astonished  rather  that  God  has  written 
his  law  for  men  and  has  spoken  to  us  by  the  mouth 
of  his  own  Son."  "  My  book,"  said  he,  "  is  nature  ; 
it  presents  itself  to  me  whenever  I  wish  to  read  the 
discourses  of  God." 

THE    FESTAL    EPISTLES. 

The  Council  of  Nice  decreed  that  the  custom 
of  celebrating  Easter  upon  Sunday,  which  prevailed 
in  the  "western,  southern,  and  northern  parts  of  the 
world,"  should  be  the  usage  of  the  whole  Church ; 
but  it  fixed  upon  no  paschal  cycle.  The  determi- 
nation of  Easter  was  thus  practically  (if  not,  as  Leo 
says,  by  express  order  of  the  council)  left  to  the 
church  at  Alexandria,  in  which  city  astronomical 
science  was  cultivated  as  nowhere  else.  Through- 
out his  episcopate,  therefore,  Athanasius,  with  the 
exception  of  certain  years  when  he  could  not  com- 
municate with  his  church,  wrote  an  annual  letter 
announcing  to  his  diocese  the  date  of  the  festival 
and  enjoining  its  proper  observance.  A  consider- 
able part  of  thirty-nine  such  letters  is  preserved  in 
a  Syriac  translation  brought  to  light  in  recent  times. 
Two  extracts  are  subjoined,  the  latter  as  testifying 
to  the  canon  of  that  day. 

EXTRACTS. 

"  We  begin  the  fast  of  forty  days  on  the  sixth 
day  of  Phamenoth ;  and  having  passed  through 
that  properly,  with  fasting  and  prayers,  we  may  be 
able  to  attain  to  the  holy  day.  For  he  who  regards 
lightly  the  fast  of  forty  days,  as  one  who  rashly  and 
impurely  treadeth  on  holy  things,  can  not  celebrate 
the  Easter  festival.     Further,  let  us  put  one  another 


58  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

in  remembrance,  and  stimulate  one  another  not  to 
be  negligent,  and  especially  that  we  should  fast 
those  days ;  so  that  fasts  may  receive  us  in  succes- 
sion and  we  may  duly  bring  the  feast  to  a  close. 
The  fast  of  forty  days  begins,  then,  as  was  before 
said,  on  the  sixth  of  Phamenoth  (March  2)  ;  and  the 
great  week  of  the  passion  on  the  eleventh  of  Phar- 
muthi  (April  6).  And  let  us  rest  from  the  fast  on 
the  sixteenth  of  it  (April  11),  on  the  seventh  day, 
late  in  the  evening.  Let  us  keep  the  feast  when 
the  first  of  the  week  rises  upon  us,  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  the  month  Pharmuthi  (April  12).  Let  us 
then  add,  one  after  the  other,  the  seven  holy  weeks 
of  Pentecost,  rejoicing  and  praising  God,  that  he 
hath  by  these  things  made  known  to  us  beforehand 
joy  and  rest  everlasting,  prepared  in  heaven  for 
those  of  us  who  truly  believe  in  Christ  Jesus  our 
Lord  ;  through  whom  and  with  whom  be  glory  and 
dominion  to  the  Father,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  for 
ever  and  ever.     Amen." — Fro7n  Letter  xix  for  a.  d. 

347. 

Having  enumerated  as  canonical  the  now  com- 
monly received  Old  Testament  books,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  Esther  and  the  addition  of  Baruch,  and 
all  of  the  now  received  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, the  author  adds :  "  These  are  the  fountains  of 
salvation,  that  he  who  thirsteth  may  be  satisfied 
with  the  words  they  contain.  In  these  alone  is 
proclaimed  the  doctrine  of  godliness.  Let  no  man 
add  to  them,  neither  let  him  take  aught  from  them. 
For  on  this  point  the  Lord  put  to  shame  the  Sad- 
ducees,  saying.  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the  Script- 
ures. And  he  reproved  the  Jews,  saying.  Search 
the  Scriptures,  for  they  testify  of  me. 

But  for  greater  exactness,  I  add  this  also,  con- 
sidering it  necessary  so  to  write :  that  there  are 
other  books  besides  these,  not  indeed  included  in 
the  canon,  but  appointed  by  the  fathers  to  be  read 


ARIUS.  59 

by  those  who  are  come  of  late,  wishing  for  admo- 
nition and  instruction  in  godliness.  The  Wisdom 
of  Solomon,  and  the  Wisdom  of  Sirach,  and  Esther, 
and  Judith,  and  Tobit,  and  that  which  is  called  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Shepherd.  But 
the  former,  my  brethren,  are  included  in  the  canon, 
the  latter  being  [merely]  read ;  nor  is  there  any 
mention  of  apocryphal  writings.  But  this  is  an  in- 
vention of  heretics,  writing  them  to  favor  their  own 
views,  bestowing  upon  them  their  approbation,  and 
assigning  to  them  a  date,  and  producing  them  as 
ancient  writings,  that  thereby  they  might  find  occa- 
sion to  lead  astray  the  simple." — From  Letter  xxxix 
for  A.  D.  367. 

List  of  Athajiasiuss  Most  Iinportant  Works  now  extant. 

Apologetic  — "  Against  the  Gentiles,"  and  "  On  the 
Incarnation."  HISTORICAL — The  works  given  in  the  text 
under  "  Historical  Tracts " ;  and  the  "  Defense  of  the 
Nicene  Definition."  Dogmatical  and  Controversial 
— "  Orations  against  the  Arians,"  the  "  Expositio  fidei," 
four  "Epistles  to  Serapion "  on  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  "  On  the  Incarnation "  against  Apollinaris. 
Scriptural — "Exposition  of  the  Psalms"  and  "On  the 
Titles  of  the  Psalms."  Practical— The  "Festal  Epis- 
tles," and  "  Life  of  Anthony." 


ARIUS. 


Neither  the  extent  nor  the  importance  of  this 
author's  writings  would  entitle  him  to  a  prominent 
place  among  the  great  ecclesiastical  writers.  His 
name,  however,  is  so  associated  with  the  literature 
of  the  great  church  controversy,  that  we  can  not 
understand  that  literature  without  recognizing  his 
work.     He  was  a  presbyter  in  the  church  at  Alex- 


6o  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

andria,  and  first  attracted  notice  by  an  attack  upon 
his  bishop,  Alexander,  on  the  subject  of  the  Trinity. 
The  outcome  of  the  resulting  controversy  was  the 
Council  of  Nice  and  its  doctrinal  definition.  After 
this  council  Arius  was  banished  to  Illyrium  and  his 
writings  were  publicly  burned.  In  a  few  years, 
however,  he  was  recalled,  and  through  the  influence 
of  Eusebius,  who  persuaded  Constantine  that  he 
differed  from  the  churchmen  only  in  the  words 
which  he  used,  he  was  received  with  favor  at  court. 
An  earnest  effort  was  also  made  to  restore  him  to 
standing  in  the  church,  but  it  was  defeated  by 
Arius's  sudden  death  (see  page  41).  He  was  a 
man  of  eloquence,  and  the  purity  of  his  moral  char- 
acter was  unquestioned.  His  chief  work  was  his 
"Thalia,"  a  theological  writing  in  prose  and  verse. 
He  also  wrote  popular  songs  teaching  his  peculiar 
views. 


CYRIL  OF  JERUSALEM. 

The  orthodox  Arian  !  No  better  phrase  could 
perhaps  be  chosen  to  define  Cyril's  position  among 
the  rationalizing  believers  of  his  day.  He  was 
born  early  in  the  fourth  century,  and  his  younger 
life  was  passed  in  Jerusalem.  He  was  made  bishop 
A.  D.  350,  having  previously  officiated  as  a  priest  at 
Jerusalem,  and  having  there  delivered  the  Catechet- 
ical Lectures  which  constitute  his  title  to  remem- 
brance as  an  author.  There  was  much  controversy 
over  Cyril's  true  position  in  the  Church.  One  of  his 
consecrators  had  been  Acacius,  Bishop  of  Caesarea, 
leader  of  the  extreme  party  among  the  Arians;  and 


CYRIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  6i 

it  was  charged  by  Cyril's  enemies  that  he  obtained 
his  see  as  the  price  of  his  concessions  to  the  Arians, 
who  at  the  death  of  his  predecessor  had  seized  upon 
the  church  at  Jerusalem.  Moreover,  Cyril's  party  at 
first  repudiated  the  action  of  the  Council  of  Sardica, 
as  did  the  Arians.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Second 
General  Council  declared  his  consecration  canon- 
ical, while  his  lectures  were  so  nearly  in  accord  with 
the  received  orthodox  opinions  that  no  one  not 
acquainted  with  the  nice  points  of  distinction 
would  suspect  that  he  differed  from  the  majority 
of  the  Niceno-Constantinopolitan  confessors.  Be- 
ing one  of  those  men  who,  in  times  of  heated  con- 
troversy, have  the  (for  themselves)  unhappy  faculty 
of  seeing  truth  on  both  sides,  he  was  persecuted  by 
the  Arians  as  too  orthodox,  and  branded  by  the 
orthodox  as  Arianizing.  His  real  position  was 
among  the  conservative  and  religious  members  of 
the  semi-Arian  party  with  whom  even  Athanasius 
was  willing,  in  his  later  life,  to  commune,  and  whom 
he  acknowledged  as  "  most  holy  men,"  differing  from 
the  orthodox  only  in  the  choice  of  a  word.  His 
experience  was  like  that  of  Athanasius  in  being 
repeatedly  driven  from  his  see  by  the  Arians.  He 
sat  as  a  lawful  bishop  in  the  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople, which  commended  him  as  "  most  reverend 
and  religious,"  and  as  "  a  withstander  of  the  Ari- 
ans." He  died  A.  D.  386.  His  only  extant  writings 
of  any  moment  are  the  Catechetical  Lectures.  Un- 
like many  of  the  ancient  works  on  theology,  they 
are  by  no  means  antiquated,  and,  barring  some  few 
crudities  due  to  the  writer's  age,  might  profitably 
be  read  to-day  as  a  text-book  upon  Christian  doc- 
6 


62  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

trines.  The  appended  lectures  on  the  Mysteries  are 
of  considerable  value  as  registering  the  develop- 
ment of  the  church  ritual  in  the  middle  of  the  fourth 
century. 

CATECHETICAL    LECTURES. 

Introductory  Address  to  the  Candidates  for  Baptism. 

Honesty  of  purpose  alone  will  make  you  called ; 
without  this  your  bodily  presence  and  baptism  will 
be  nothing.  Simon  Magus  was  baptized,  but  he 
was  not  enlightened.  You  may  have  come  here 
because  you  are  paying  court  to  some  one ;  still, 
having  come,  do  you  remain  for  a  better  end.  Pre- 
pare as  for  thy  wedding.  Attend  diligently  to  the 
catechisings,  for  they  will  be  thy  armor.  Baptism 
is  ransom  and  remission,  the  death  of  sin.  Beware 
ye  of  unbelief. 

Lecture  I.    The  Purpose  of  Mmd  necessary. 
You  are  to  beware  of  hypocrisy;    to  abandon 
the  world  ;  to  forgive  all.     Though  remission  of  sin 
may  come  to  all  in  baptism,  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  be  according  to  your  faith. 

//.  The  Power  of  Repentance. 
Sin,  being  a  self-chosen  evil,  though  fearful,  is 
not  incurable.  Not  nature  alone,  but  also  the 
devil,  once  an  archangel,  prompts  to  sin.  But  the 
lost  may  be  saved  through  the  blood  of  Him  who 
died  for  us.  Even  multiplied  sins  find  forgiveness 
upon  repentance,  as  is  shown  in  God's  mercy  to 
Adam,  Rahab,  David,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Peter,  and 
others.     Do  you  then  heartily  confess  your  sins. 

///.    Holy  Baptism. 

Baptism  is  an  occasion  of  joy  and  of  solemnity. 
For  baptism,  both  by  water  and  by  the  Spirit,  is 


CYRIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  63 

necessary,  that  even  the  virtuous  may  enter  heaven. 
Dead  in  sin  thou  goest  down  into  the  water ;  quick- 
ened in  righteousness  thou  comest  up.  Thou  art 
then  equipped  to  wrestle,  being  purified,  and  hav- 
ing received  the  Holy  Ghost. 

IV.    Ten  Points  of  Faith. 

I.  There  is  one  only  God  the  Father.  2.  Like 
to  him  in  all  things,  not  separate  from  or  confused 
with  him,  is  Christ ;  from  everlasting  God's  Wis- 
doqi,  and  Power,  and  Righteousness,  the  Artificer 
of  all  things.  3.  Who  was  truly  made  flesh,  and 
was  man  and  God  ;  was  truly  crucified  and  buried ; 
and  who  rose  the  third  day,  and  ascended  into 
heaven.  4.  He  will  come  again  in  glory.  5.  Co- 
ordinate with  Father  and  Son  is  the  Holy  Ghost. 
6.  Thou  art  thyself  soul  and  body,  and  thy  soul  is 
free  and  immortal.  7.  Thy  body,  as  thy  soul,  is 
from  God,  and  is  to  be  kept  pure.  8.  All  shall  rise 
from  the  dead ;  the  just  to  praise  God  eternally, 
the  wicked  to  suffer  everlasting  torment.  9.  The 
Lord  has  given  to  us  the  laver  of  regeneration.  10. 
All  these  things  are  taught  in  the  Divine  Scriptures, 
composed  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments. 

V.  Faith. 

Great  dignity  is  now  conferred  upon  you  in 
your  promotion  among  the  faithful.  Faith  is  not 
peculiar  to  Christians,  but  is  exercised  by  all  who 
accomplish  important  ends.  Faith  is  of  two  kinds  : 
I.  An  acquiescence  in  God's  message;  this  will 
save  the  believer.  2.  A  special  gift,  by  which  we 
may  accomplish  great  works.  Cherish  thou  the 
first,  that  Christ  may  bestow  upon  thee  the  second. 

VI.  God  the  One  Prijiciple. 

In  place  of  the  one  God,  heathens  and  heretics 
have  recognized  two  principles,  one  of  good  and 


64  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

one  of  evil ;  have  distinguished  between  the  good 
God  and  the  just  God ;  and  have  otherwise  de- 
graded the  divine  idea.  But  fold  thou  with  the 
sheep. 

VJI.  God  the  Father. 

God  is  eternally  and  by  nature  the  Father  of  the 
Only-Begotten.  Though  allowing  us  men  to  call 
him  "our  Father,"  he  is  such  only  through  our 
adoption. 

VIIL  God's  Sovereignty. 

God  is  truly  Almighty.  It  is  only  by  sufferance 
that  the  devil  has  power  against  the  good. 

IX.  God  the  Creator, 

God  the  Artificer,  the  Contriver,  is  to  be  seen 
by  us  in  all  his  wonderful  works. 

X.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

That  Christ  was  Lord  with  the  Father  before 
his  incarnation  is  proved  by  the  Old  Testament. 
He  was  called  Jesus  because  he  saves ;  Christ  be- 
cause of  his  priesthood.  The  "  new  name  "  of  the 
prophet  is  "Christian." 

XI.   The  Only-Begotten  eternally,  the  Creator. 

Christ  is  the  Son  of  God  in  the  true  sense,  that 
is  by  nature,  and  not  by  adoption,  like  men.  His 
generation  was  apart  from  all  time.  He  is  very  God,' 
not  foreign  to  the  Father,  not  separated  from  him 
or  confused  with  him.  He  did  not  begin  to  be  at 
Bethlehem,  but  he  is  eternally.  He  is  the  sover- 
eign Creator  by  the  will  of  the  Father. 

XII.   The  Incarnation. 
The  wound  of  man's  nature  through  sin  was 
sore,  and  God  sent  his  Son  to  be  our  physician. 


CYRIL   OF  JERUSALEM,  65 

He  came  in  the  flesh  because  we  could  not  endure 
the  sight  of  God.  All  the  prophetic  signs  were  ful- 
filled in  him,  including  those  of  time,  place,  and 
virgin  mother. 

XI IL    The  Crucifixion  and  Burial. 

Christ  was  crucified,  being  himself  sinless — the 
Lamb  of  God  taking  away  the  sin  of  the  world — 
and  was  laid  in  the  tomb,  all  of  which  was  before 
prophesied.  The  cross,  then,  is  the  foundation  of 
our  faith.  The  very  sign  of  the  cross  now  has 
mighty  power. 

XI V.   The  Resurrection,  Ascension,  and  Exaltation. 

The  resurrection  of  the  Lord  the  third  day  was 
in  accordance  with  the  Scripture,  which  had  fore- 
told its  time  and  place.''  While  in  Hades  he  had 
redeemed  the  just."  Of  the  resurrection  there  are 
many  witnesses. 

The  ascension  and  the  exaltation  at  the  right 
hand  of  God  were  also  matters  of  prophecy. 

XV.  Second  Coming,  Judgment,  and  Reign  of  Christ. 

Our  Lord  will  come  in  glory  at  the  end  of  the 
world,  and  will  gather  all  nations  to  judgment. 
Many  signs  must  precede — divisions,  antichrist,  etc., 
some  of  which  have  appeared  ;  and  I  am  fearful 
we  should  be  watching.  Prepare  ye  for  the  terrible 
judgment  by  good  works.  The  reign  of  Christ 
thus  begun  shall  be  without  end,  despite  all  ques- 
tionings. 

XVI.   The  Holy  Ghost. 

As  there  is  one  only  God  the  Father,  and  one 
only-begotten  Son  and  Word  of  God,  so  there  is 
one  only  Holy  Ghost  the  Comforter,  a  living,  intel- 
ligent Being,  of  a  divine  and  unsearchable  nature, 


66  POST^NICENE  GREEK  FATHERS. 

the  sanctifying  principle  of  all  things  made  by  God 
through  Christ.  "  Our  hope  is  in  the  Father  and 
the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  preach  not  three 
Gods — let  the  Marcionites  be  mute — but  we  preach 
one  God,  by  one  Son,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  The 
faith  is  indivisible ;  religious  worship  is  undistracted. 
We  neither  divide  the  Holy  Trinity  like  some,  nor 
do  we,  as  Sabellians,  introduce  confusion.  But  we 
know,  according  to  godliness,  one  Father,  who  sent 
his  Son  to  be  our  Saviour ;  we  know  one  Son,  who 
promised  that  he  would  send  the  Comforter  from 
the  Father;  we  know  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  spoke 
in  the  prophets,  and  who  on  the  day  of  Pentecost 
descended  on  the  Apostles  in  the  form  of  fiery 
tongues  here  in  Jerusalem,  in  the  Upper  Church  of 
the  Apostles."  The  Holy  Ghost  is  the  suggester  of 
all  good,  the  teacher  of  the  church,  the  comforter 
of  believers.  Before  the  day  of  Pentecost  the 
Spirit  was  only  partially  bestowed — on  prophets, 
judges,  etc.,  as  on  Daniel. 

X  VII.   The  Holy  Ghost  in  the  New  Testa??tent. 

The  Holy  Ghost  possesses,  and  invests,  and  in- 
fuses the  souls  of  believers,  being  the  personal,  hal- 
lowing power  in  them  of  understanding.  He  is 
present  in  baptism,  but  only  if  thou  come  sincerely. 

XVIII.  The  Resurrection  and  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  is  the  spring  of 
hope  to  the  church.  To  all  objections  thereto  we 
allege  God's  power,  and  also  cite  the  analogies  of 
the  springing  grain,  the  phoenix,  etc.,  as  well  as  the 
examples  of  rising  from  the  dead  found  in  Script- 
ures. 

We  say  Catholic  because  the  Church  is  through- 
out the  whole  world,  teaching  everywhere  one  doc- 
trine, and  all  the  doctrines;  and  because  it  subju- 


CYRIL   OF  JERUSALEM.  67 

gates  all  classes  of  men.  We  say  Church,  as  assem- 
bling men  together.  We  call  it  Holy,  as  distin- 
guished from  all  wicked  assemblies.  This  Church 
of  God,  which  once  furnished  martyrs,  now  extends 
its  sovereignty  throughout  the  whole  world.  Trained 
in  the  Church,  we  shall  attain  unto  life  everlasting. 
Amen. 

ON    THE    MYSTERIES. 

Subsequent  to  the  baptism  of  the  candidates  to 
whom  the  above  lectures  were  given,  Cyril  delivered 
to  them  five  lectures  "  On  the  Mysteries,"  in  which 
he  explains  the  rites  by  which  they  have  been  ad- 
mitted to  fellowship  in  the  church.  He  dwells  par- 
ticularly upon  the  rites  of  the  renunciation  of  Satan 
and  his  works,  of  anointing  with  oil,  of  baptism,  of 
anointing  with  the  holy  chrism,  and  of  partaking  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Of  the  communion 
service  he  traces  the  several  steps :  the  symbolical 
washing  of  hands;  the  kiss  of  peace;  the  several 
summonses  of  the  priest  and  responses  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  the  prayers,  among  them  the  prayers  for  the 
dead,*  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  upon  the  several  peti- 
tions of  which  he  comments ;  the  chant,  "  O  taste 
and  see  that  the  Lord  is  good  " ;  the  partaking  of 
the  bread  and  of  the  wine;  and  the  final  prayer 
and  thanksgiving. 

The  first  eighteen  lectures  were  given  in  the  Basilica 
of  the  Holy  Cross  erected  by  Constantine  ;  the  last  five  in 
the  church  upon  the  site  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre. 

EXTRACTS. 

I.  "  The  Son,  therefore,  is  truly  God,  having  the 
Father  in  himself,  not  changed  into  the  Father ;  for 
the  Father  was  not  incarnate,  but  the  Son.  For  let 
the  truth  be  spoken  freely.  The  Father  did  not 
suffer  for  us ;  but  the  Father  sent  Him  who  should 
suffer  for  us.     Nor  let  us  say  there  was  once  when 


68  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

the  Son  was  not;  nor  allow  that  the  Son  is  the 
Father ;  but  let  us  walk  in  the  royal  road,  swerving 
neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left.  Let  us  not,  with 
the  thought  of  honoring  the  Son,  call  him  Father ; 
nor,  with  the  idea  of  honoring  the  Father,  call  the 
Son  one  of  the  creatures.  But  let  the  one  Father, 
through  the  one  Son,  be  worshiped,  and  let  not  the 
worship  be  separated.  Let  the  one  Son  be  pro- 
claimed, sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Father, 
before  the  ages :  not  possessing  this  seat  in  time 
after  the  passion,  as  received  by  promotion ;  but 
eternally." — Cat.  xi,  6. 

2.  "  And  from  whence  did  the  Saviour  rise  }  He 
says  in  the  Song  of  Songs,  '  Rise  up,  my  love,  and 
come  away*;  and  afterward,  'in  the  cleft  of  the 
rock.'  The  'cleft  of  the  rock  *  is  what  he  calls  the 
cleft  which  was  at  the  door  of  the  sepulchre,  and 
out  of  the  rock  itself,  as  is  the  custom  here  with 
rock-hewn  sepulchres.  Now,  indeed,  it  does  not 
appear,  because  the  entrance  was  cut  away  on  ac- 
count of  the  present  adornment.  For,  before  this 
decoration  of  the  sepulchre  through  royal  zeal, 
there  was  a  cleft  in  the  front  of  the  rock.  But 
where  is  the  rock  which  had  the  cleft  ?  does  it  lie 
in  the  midst  of  the  city,  or  near  the  walls  and  the 
outskirts  ?  Or  is  it  inside  the  ancient  walls,  or  the 
outer  walls  built  afterward  .'*  He  says  in  the  Songs, 
'In  the  cleft  of  the  rock  near  the  outer  wall.'  " — 
Cat.  xiv,  4. 

3.  "  Death  was  terror-struck  seeing  a  new  visit- 
ant descending  into  hell,  not  bound  with  the  chains 
thereof.  Wherefore,  O  keepers  of  the  gates  of  hell, 
were  you  terrified,  seeing  him.''  What  unbounded 
fear  seized  upon  you  ?  Death  fled,  and  the  flight 
betrayed  his  cowardice.  The  holy  prophets  ran  to 
him,  Moses  the  legislator,  and  Abraham,  and  Isaac, 
and  Jacob,  David,  and  Samuel,  and  Isaiah,  and 
John  the  Baptist,  who  spoke  and  bore  witness,  'Art 


CYRIL    OF  JERUSALEM.  69 

Thou  he  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  an- 
other ? '  All  the  holy  whom  death  had  devoured  were 
redeemed.  For  it  was  fitting  that  the  King  who 
had  been  heralded  should  be  the  redeemer  of  his 
noble  heralds.  Then  each  of  the  just  said:  'O 
death,  where  is  thy  victory  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
sting?  For  the  Conqueror  hath  redeemed  us.'  " — 
Cat.  xiv,  10. 

4.  "  Then  we  commemorate  those  who  have 
slept  before  us,  first  patriarchs,  prophets,  apostles, 
martyrs,  that  God,  on  account  of  their  prayers  and 
interventions,  may  hear  our  petition.  Then  for  the 
holy  fathers  and  bishops  who  have  fallen  asleep  be- 
fore us,  and  for  all  who  in  time  past  have  slept 
among  us  we  pray,  believing  that  it  will  be  of  the 
greatest  advantage  to  the  souls  for  whom  prayer  is 
offered,  while  the  holy  and  awful  sacrifice  is  pre- 
sented. 

"  And  I  would  persuade  you  by  an  illustration. 
I  know  that  many  say,  '  What  is  a  soul  profited  which 
has  departed  from  this  world,  either  with  or  with- 
out sins,  if  it  be  commemorated  in  prayer.? '  Now, 
if  a  king  should  send  into  exile  certain  who  had 
offended  him,  and  afterward  their  friends  weaving 
a  crown  should  offer  it  in  behalf  of  those  banished, 
would  he  not  grant  a  reprieve  to  those  punished  "^ 
In  the  same  manner  also  we,  offering  prayers  to 
Him  for  those  who  have  slept,  although  they  be  sin- 
ners, do  not  indeed  weave  a  crown,  but  offer  up 
Christ,  sacrificed  for  our  sin,  propitiating  Him  who 
is  merciful  both  toward  them  and  ourselves  "  (Mys. 
v,  6,  7).  Compare,  however,  the  following:  "And 
if  it  be  said,  '  The  dead  do  not  praise  Thee,  O 
Lord,'  this  indicates  that,  repentance  and  forgive- 
ness having  their  appointed  time  in  this  life  only, 
for  which  they  who  enjoy  the  privilege  'praise 
Thee '  [the  Lord],  after  death  it  no  longer  remains 
to  those  who  are  in  sin  to  give  praise  as  the  receiv- 


70  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

ers  of  blessings,  but  to  bewail.  For  praise  is  theirs 
who  give  thanks ;  but  to  those  who  are  under  the 
lash  is  lamentation.  Therefore  the  just  shall  then 
give  praise  ;  but  those  who  have  died  in  sin  have  no 
season  left  for  confession." — Cat.  xviii,  7. 


EPHRAEM    SYRUS, 

The  Syriac  preacher  in  song.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  he  could  even  speak  Greek,  yet  he  deserves 
an  honorable  place  among  the  Greek  fathers,  as 
having  had  his  works  translated  into  Greek  during 
his  lifetime,  and  as  being  so  revered  throughout  the 
entire  East  that  his  books  were  read  in  many  of  the 
churches  after  the  Scriptures.  He  was  a  deacon  of 
the  church  at  Edessa,  was  born  in  the  reign  of  Dio- 
cletian, and  died  a.  d.  373.  He  lived  ascetically  in 
the  retirement  of  a  cell,  though  he  constantly  came 
forth  to  preach.  Once  only  he  broke  away  from 
this  quiet  life  and  made  a  long  journey  to  visit 
Basil  at  Caesarea.  The  Oriental  poet  is  seen  in  his 
meeting  with  this  bishop.  He  had  arrived  in  Basil's 
church  while  the  latter  was  preaching.  After  the 
sermon  Basil  met  him  and  asked  if  he  were  not 
"that  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  Ephraem."  "I  am 
that  Ephraim,  very  far  from  the  way  of  heaven," 
said  he.  Then  bursting  into  tears,  and  raising  his 
voice,  he  cried,  "  O  my  Father,  have  pity  on  a  mis- 
erable sinner  and  deign  to  lead  him  into  the  true 
way !  "  Basil,  embracing  him,  asked  why  he  had 
thus  praised  him  with  a  loud  voice.  "  Because," 
said  Ephraem,  "  I  saw  over  your  right  shoulder  a 
dove  of  spotless  white,  which  seemed  to  be  suggest- 


EPHRAEM  SYR  US.  71 

ing  to  you  what  you  were  saying  to  the  people." 
Ephraem's  is  the  chief  name  connected  with  the 
somewhat  abundant  literature  of  the  Syrian  Church. 
These  writings  are  for  the  most  part  in  metrical  form. 
Ephraem,  noting  the  influence  which  the  Gnostic 
Bardesanes  had  exercised  over  the  people,  by  put- 
ting his  doctrine  into  hymns  and  odes,  sought  to 
give  currency  to  the  truth  by  the  same  means. 
"  The  blessed  Ephraem,"  says  his  biographer,  "  see- 
ing that  all  men  were  led  by  music,  rose  up  and 
opposed  the  profane  games  and  noisy  dances  of  the 
young  people,  and  established  the  '  daughters  of  the 
convent,'  and  taught  them  odes,  and  scales,  and  re- 
sponses, and  conveyed  in  the  odes  intelligent  senti- 
ments in  a  sententious  form,  and  things  of  spiritual 
wisdom."  He  not  only  composed  and  taught  such 
odes  and  hymns,  but  he  wrote  and  preached  his 
homilies  in  a  metrical  form,  not  unlike  that  of  the 
Old  Testament  prophecies.  His  work  was  prolific. 
Besides  commentaries  on  much  of  the  Bible,  writ- 
ten in  prose,  we  have  of  his  some  two  hundred 
metrical  discourses,  as  well  as  numerous  hymns  and 
briefer  homilies. 

The  following  selections  from  these  works  were 
translated  from  the  Syriac  of  the  Vatican  edition  by 
the  Rev.  J.  B.  Morris  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Burgess, 
who  have  given  considerable  portions  of  the  hymns 
and  homilies  to  English  readers.  The  first,  "  On 
speaking  of  the  Divine  Mysteries,"  is  from  one  of 
eighty-six  homilies  Against  Captious  Questioners  ;  the 
second,  from  one  of  three  homilies  oi  a  similar  char- 
acter Concerning  the  Faith.  "  The  Repentance  of 
Nineveh,"  in  reality  an  epic  poem,  appears  in  the 


72  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

Syriac  works  as  one  of  a  collection  of  eleven  dis- 
courses on  separate  texts  of  Scripture,  all  of  which 
were  doubtless  delivered  by  the  author.  "  On  the 
Death  of  Children  "  is  from  a  collection  of  eighty-five 
Canones  Funebres^  or  pieces  relating  to  death.  The 
"  Prayer "  is  one  of  seventy-six  hymns  or  brief 
homilies  known  as  the  Parenetica  or  Exhortations  to 
Penitence.  Among  the  most  beautiful  of  Ephraem's 
compositions  are  seven  homilies  forming  a  complete 
work  known  as  The  Pearl.  In  addition  to  the 
above  may  be  noted  thirteen  discourses  On  the 
Birth  of  Christ  and  fifty-six  discourses  Against 
Heresies. 


AD    CLERUM  :    ON    SPEAKING    OF    THE    DIVINE   MYS- 
TERIES. 

Speak  on,  harp,  for  silence  is  thine  enemy; 
speak  thou  whatsoever  is  to  be  spoken,  for  whatso- 
ever we  have  no  right  to  speak,  if  it  be  spoken  to 
the  righteous  it  will  be  blasphemy.  Unto  the  un- 
believers is  he  nigh  akin  that  dares  to  pry;  on  the 
very  edge  of  death  the  rash  standeth,  in  that  he 
hath  left  the  faith  in  his  disputation  to  go  down 
and  search  into  the  ocean  of  hidden  things. 

.  .  .  Set  thy  soul  then  in  tune,  and  sing  without 
discord.  Purify  thy  strains  and  sing  unto  us,  but 
not  of  hidden  things.  Be  a  disciple  to  all  the 
things  revealed,  speak  fair  things  which  are  free  of 
danger;  weigh  out,  then,  thy  words,  sounds  which 
may  not  be  blamed;  weigh  also  and  sing  strains 
that  can  not  be  reproved,  and  let  thy  song  be,  my 
son,  comfort  to  the  servants  of  thy  Lord,  and  then 
shall  thy  Lord  reward  thee. 

Do  not,  therefore,  sing  things  hurtful  to  man- 
kind, neither  divide,  by  thy  disputation,  brethren  at. 


EPHRAEM  SYR  US.  73 

unity  together ;  put  not  a  sword,  which  this  ques- 
tioning is,  among  the  simple  that  believe  in  sincer- 
ity. Sing  not  thou  unto  God  perversely  in  the 
stead  of  praise,  lest  thou  forget  and  sing  iniquity. 
Sing  like  David  to  David's  Son,  and  call  him  Lord 
and  Son  as  David  did.  .  .  . 

Make  ye  then  disciples,  and  baptize  in  the  three 
names,  that  is,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of 
the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  For  the  name  of 
the  Son  could  not  have  come  before  the  name  of 
the  Father,  that  there  might  not  be  confusion.  But 
how  and  why  this  is  so  is  encompassed  in  silence. 
Far  off  from  that  silence,  without  it,  be  thou  speak- 
ing of  his  praise.  Let  not  thy  tongue  be  a  bridge 
for  sounds  which  letteth  all  words  pass  across  it. 
Praise  do  thou  send  up  to  Him,  as  the  tithing  of 
thy  strains.  A  wave-sheaf  of  words  offer  unto 
Him  from  thine  imagination,  hymns  also  as  first- 
fruits,  and  send  up  clustered  hymns  thy  tongue 
hath  culled. — From  Rhythm  xxiii.  Against  Captious 
Questioners. 

MAN  CAN  NOT  COMPREHEND  THE  DUST,  MUCH 

LESS  God. 

Whither  wilt  thou  mount,  feeble  man .?  Thou 
dust  that  art  flung  upon  dust,  let  thy  conversation 
be  in  the  dust !  Even  the  dust  which  is  beneath 
thee  is  above  thee,  to  search  into.  If  that  beneath 
be  too  high  for  thee,  how  wilt  thou  attain  to  Him 
who  is  above  ?  If  the  small  dust  thy  kinsman, 
from  which  thou  art,  is  yet  hidden  from  thee,  how 
wilt  thou  search  out  the  Majesty  too  high  for  any 
to  search  out  J 

That  dust  is  in  appearance  one :  it  is  little  and 
yet  great  upon  searching  into  it.  The  dust  is  one 
and  yet  not  one,  since  in  its  severalty  it  is  manifold. 
One  mean  bosom  generates  tastes  that  can  not  be 
numbered ;  one  little  treasury  sendeth   forth  orna- 

7 


74  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ments  that  can  not  be  reckoned.  .  .  .  How  much 
can  vile  dust  do  which  giveth  to  each  of  them  its 
increase  ?  To  the  fruits  it  giveth  their  tastes,  and 
with  their  tastes  their  colors ;  to  the  flowers  it  giv- 
eth their  odors,  and  with  their  odors  their  orna- 
ments ;  flavors  it  giveth  to  the  fruits,  and  to  the 
roots  aromas ;  it  giveth  beauty  to  the  blossoms,  the 
flowers  it  clothes  with  adornment.  It  is  the  seed's 
handicraftsman,  it  bringeth  up  the  wheat  in  the 
ears;  the  stem  is  strengthened  with  knots  as  a 
building  with  bond-timbers,  that  it  may  sustain 
and  bear  up  the  fruit,  and  hold  out  against  the 
winds.  ...  If  the  dust  thou  tramplest  perplexeth 
thee  in  thy  search  into  it,  how  wilt  thou  search  out 
the  Majesty  of  Him  who  with  contemptible  things 
maketh  thee  perplexed .? — From  Homily,  Coficerni?jg 
the  Faith. 

THE  REPENTANCE  OF  NINEVEH. 

The  argument  of  the  earlier  part  is  summarized 
in  the  opening  lines  : 

"  The  just  man  Jonah  opened  his  mouth  ; 
Nineveh  listened  and  was  troubled." 

For  at  the  preaching  of  the  prophet  the  city  was 
moved  to  repentance,  the  king  setting  the  example 
to  his  subjects.  We  recognize  quickly  the  tender 
author  of  the  Canones  Funcbres  in  his  description  of 

"  The  gentle  wailing  of  the  little  ones," 

and   the  vain   efforts  of  the  parents   to   assume  a 
cheerfulness   which   they  can  not  feel,  Abraham's 
assurances  to  Isaac  being  used  as  an  illustration. 
The  king,  convoking  his  armies,  addresses  them  : 

"  Asshur  has  roared  against  the  world, 
But  the  voice  of  Jonah  roars  against  her. 
Behold  !  the  voice  of  Nimrod — the  mighty  one — 
Is  altogether  brought  low." 


EPHRAEM  SYR  US.  75 

He  urges  them,  though  they  can  not  now  conquer 
in  their  wonted  manner,  to  take  to  themselves  hid- 
den weapons,  prayer  and  repentance,  which  will  not 
be  spurned  by  the  righteous  God.  He  tells  them 
how  he  has  tried  to  shake  the  prophet : 

"  I  flattered  him,  but  he  was  not  enticed, 
I  sought  to  terrify  him,  but  he  trembled  not ; 
I  showed  him  riches,  but  he  laughed  at  them, 
A  sword  also,  but  he  altogether  despised  it." 

And  urges — 

"  In  battles  ye  have  conquered  kings. 
Now  conquer  Satan  by  prayer." 

The  people  thus  repenting,  Jonah  is  filled  with 
wonder,  and  compares  them  with  the  obdurate  Isra- 
elites. Meantime,  through  all  the  forty  days,  the 
earth  has  not  ceased  to  quake,  and  the  signs  of  their 
doom  have  convinced  all  hearts.  The  dreaded  day 
comes : 

"  Each  man  grasped  the  dust. 
And  called  louder  upon  God, 

The  sackcloth  walls  shed  tears 

The  air  itself  was  affrighted 
And  the  heaven  trembled — 
The  cloud  and  thick  darkness  enveloped  it. 

The  thunder  met  its  fellows, 

And  lightnings  pressed  on  lightnings. 

Each  man  beheld  the  earth 

With  consternation  and  commotion  of  heart, 

For  he  thought  it  was  near  to  ruin. 

Each  man  called  to  his  companion 

That  he  might  see  him  and  be  satisfied  with  his 

presence ; 
That  his  speech  might  end  with  his, 
And  they  might  descend  together  to  the  grave." 


76  POST-NICENE   GREEK  EATHERS. 

But  evening  came,  and  twilight,  and  night.  "  In 
the  morning  it  would  come,"  they  said;  but  morn- 
ing came,  and 

"  At  the  moment  when  hope  was  cut  off 
The  good  news  of  mercy  was  afforded." 

The  earthquake  suddenly  ceased,  and  the  people 
knew  themselves  saved.  In  their  joy  they  flock 
forth  from  the  city  to  Jonah,  whom  they  find  brood- 
ing in  prophetic  spirit,  and  speaking  to  himself  in 
two  persons : 

"  That  of  God  and  that  of  the  prophet." 

Hearing  the  colloquy  about  the  gourd,  the  peo- 
ple shout  their  praises  to  God.  They  also  seize  with 
affection  upon  Jonah,  whom  they  bear  in  triumph 
into  the  city.  He  is  loaded  with  presents,  and  the 
king  causes  him  to  be  conducted  back  to  his  own 
country  in  royal  state. 

Jonah  will  not  allow  the  cortege  to  enter  the 
Hebrew  cities,  lest  the  Ninevites  see  the  corruption 
which  there  abounds  ;  but  they  see  from  the  hill- 
tops the  evidences  of  idolatry  and  crime,  and  are 
filled  with  horror. 

Returning  home,  they  call  upon  all  classes  of 
their  countrymen  to  hymn  praises  to  God  for  their 
own  deliverance. 

Ephraem  concludes  with  a  comparison  of  the 
repentance  of  the  Ninevites  with  that  of  his  hear- 
ers, which  he  calls  but  a  shadow,  and  with  the 
ascription — 

•'  Blessed  be  He  who  loves  the  righteous, 
Who  multiplied  penitents  in  Asshur." 

— Sermones  Exegetici.     On  Jonah,  iii,  2,  3. 


EPHRAEM  SYR  US. 


ON    THE    DEATH    OF    CHILDREN. 


77 


Let  the  little  children  be  pledges  with  Thee, 
And  above,  in  heaven,  let  them  be  thy  guests ; 
Let  them  be  intercessors  for  all  of  us, 
For  pure  is  the  prayer  of  childhood. 

Blessed  is  He  who  entertains  them  in  his  pavilion. 

Our  Saviour  took  children  in  his  arms. 
And  blessed  them  before  the  multitude, 
And  showed  that  He  loved  childhood. 
Because  it  is  pure  and  free  from  defilement. 

Blessed  is  He  who  makes  them  dwell  in  his  taber- 
nacle. 

The  Just  One  saw  that  iniquity  increased  on  earth, 
And  that  sin  had  dominion  over  all  men. 
And  sent  his  messenger  and  removed 
A  multitude  of  fair  little  ones. 

And  called  them  to  the  pavilion  of  happiness. 

Like  lilies  taken  from  the  wilderness, 
Children  are  planted  in  paradise ; 
And  like  pearls  in  diadems 
Children  are  inserted  in  the  kingdom, 

And  without  ceasing  shall  hymn  forth  praise. 

Who  will  not  rejoice  at  seeing 

Children  taken  to  the  heavenly  pavilion  } 

Who  will  weep  for  childhood 

That  has  fled  from  the  snares  of  sin .? 

Lord !  make  me  happy  with  them  in  thy  habita- 
tion. 

Glory  be  to  Him  who  hath  taken  away 
The  little  ones,  and  made  them  meet  for  paradise ; 
Glory  be  to  Him  who  hath  removed  children 
And  placed  them  in  a  garden  of  pleasure  ! 
Lo !  they  are  happy  there  without  danger. 

— From  Necrosima,  Canon  xliii. 


78  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS, 

A    PRAYER    IN    PROSPECT    OF    JUDGMENT. 

Before  my  offenses 

Are  brought  against  me 

At  the  tribunal  of  justice, 

And  cause  me  to  stand 

In  the  presence  of  the  Judge, 

With  confusion  of  face — 

Have  mercy  on  me,  O  Lord,  for 
Thou  art  abundant  in  mercy. 

Before  thou  shalt  close 
Thy  door  against  me. 
Thou  Son  of  God, 
And  I  become 
Food  for  the  fire 
Which  dieth  not  in  hell — 
Have  mercy  on  me,  etc. 

Before  the  wheel  of  time 

Shall  run  its  course 
Above  the  well. 
And  the  pitcher 
Of  all  tribes  of  men 
Be  broken  at  the  fountain — 
Have  mercy  on  me,  etc. 

Before  those  who  have  made 

A  vain  profession 

Shall  cry,  ''  Lord  !  Lord  !  " 

And  Thou  answerest  them, 

"  I  know  you  not, 

Who  ye  are  " — 

Have  mercy  on  me,  etc. 

Before  the  voice  of  the  trumpet 
Shall  shout  aloud 
To  announce  thy  coming ; 
O  Lord  Jesus, 


EPHRAEM  SYR  US.  79 

Have  pity  on  thy  servants 
Who  pray  earnestly  to  thee — 
Have  mercy  on  me,  etc. 

— From  Parmiesis^  xxxii. 

THE  pearl:  concerning  faith. 

Once  on  a  time 

I  took  up,  my  brothers, 

A  precious  pearl; 

I  saw  in  it  mysteries 

Relating  to  the  kingdom  ; 

Images  and  types 

Of  the  high  Majesty. 

It  became  a  fountain. 

And  I  drank  from  it 

The  mysterious  things  of  the  Son. 

Men  who  had  put  off  their  clothing 

Dived  and  drew  thee  forth, 

A  precious  pearl ! 

It  was  not  kings 

Who  first  presented  thee 

To  the  children  of  men ; 

But  the  mystically  naked. 

Even  men  who  were  poor, 

And  fishermen  in  occupation, 

And  natives  of  Galilee. 

For  bodies  which  are  clothed 

Have  not  the  power 

To  come  near  to  thee ; 

But  those  which  are  destitute  of  raiment, 

Like  little  children. 

They  buried  their  bodies  in  the  sea, 

And  descended  to  thy  side. 

And  thou  didst  receive  them  kindly. 

And  didst  intrust  thyself  to  them 

Who  so  much  loved  thee. 

—From  Homilies  i  and  v. 


8o  POST-XICENE   GREEK  EATHERS. 

MARCELLUS   AND   THE   APOLLINARII. 

These  writers  are  deserving  of  special  notice 
as  representing  phases  of  thought  which  leading 
writers  gave  some  of  their  best  efforts  to  combat- 
ing. 

Marcellus  of  Ancyra  differed  in  no  appreciable 
degree  from  Athanasius  as  to  his  faith  in  the  re- 
vealed and  intuitively-discerned  fundamentals  of 
Christianity.  When  it  came  to  defending  them 
against  the  Arians,  however,  Marcellus  took  dis- 
tinctively Sabellian  grounds.  He  wrote  many  vol- 
umes, chiefly  against  the  Arians,  and  was  answered, 
among  others,  by  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  Driven 
from  his  see  by  the  Arians,  he  was  in  exile  at  the 
West  in  company  with  Athanasius,  and  shared  with 
this  father  in  the  vote  of  confidence  of  the  Council 
of  Laodicea. 

T/ie  Apollhiaru  were  father  and  son,  the  former 
a  grammarian  of  Alexandria  who,  upon  becoming 
a  priest  at  Laodicea,  devoted  himself  so  much  to 
profane  learning  as  to  awaken  the  opposition  of  his 
bishop.  The  latter,  a  man  of  very  great  learning, 
was  made  bishop  of  Sardica,  and  was  esteemed 
highly  by  Athanasius,  Basil,  and  others  among  the 
leaders  of  the  age.  Later,  however,  he  fell  into 
certain  errors  of  doctrine  as  to  the  Incarnation,  and 
became  the  founder  of  a  sect  which  bore  his  name. 
He  composed  many  books  against  heresies  and  on 
the  Scriptures,  as  well  as  many  homilies.  His  prin- 
cipal work  was  a  defense  of  religion  against  Por- 
phyry the  philosopher.  Julian  having  forbidden 
the  study  of  the  classics  by  Christians,  Apollina- 


BASIL.  8i 

rius  undertook  to  supply  the  want  thus  created  by 
writing  a  history  of  the  Jews  in  heroic  verse,  and 
composing  odes,  tragedies,  and  comedies  upon  sub- 
jects found  in  the  Old  Testament.  He  also  made 
a  translation  of  the  Psalms  in  verse,  the  only  one 
of  his  works  now  extant.  His  chief  doctrinal  pe- 
culiarities consisted  in  the  denial  of  the  possession 
of  a  human  soul  by  our  Lord,  and  in  attributing  to 
him  but  one  nature.     He  died  about  a.  d.  380. 


BASIL. 


The  "  holy  Basil  "  is  the  name  attached  to  the 
liturgy  ascribed  to  this  father,  a  title  won  from  an 
admiring  age  by  his  ascetic  habits  and  self-sacrific- 
ing labors,  even  more  than  by  his  defense  of  ortho- 
doxy. He  was  born  about  a.  d.  330  at  Caesarea  in 
Cappadocia,  of  wealthy  and  cultivated  parents. 
The  family  gave  to  the  Church  three  bishops,  Basil 
and  his  brothers  Gregory  and  Peter;  while  their 
sister,  the  saintly  Macrina,  and  their  eldest  brother, 
Naucratius,  a  Christian  jurist,  were  ornaments  to 
the  piety  of  the  age.  In  Basil's  childhood  the  fam- 
ily removed  to  Pontus,  but  he  returned  while  young 
to  Cccsarea,  where  he  received  his  earlier  educa- 
tion. After  intermediate  study  at  Byzantium,  his 
course  was  completed  at  Athens,  where  he  took  the 
highest  rank  as  a  scholar.  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
with  whom  he  thus  early  formed  a  life-long  friend- 
ship, says  that  his  industry  was  such  that  he  might 
have  succeeded  without  talent,  and  that  his  endow- 


82  FOST-.VICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

ments  were  such  that  he  might  have  succeeded 
without  great  labor. 

He  was  as  yet  unbaptized,  and  his  studies  were 
those  of  the  Greek  curriculum — rhetoric,  grammar, 
philosophy,  and  medicine  being  his  favorite  depart- 
ments. Of  the  latter  science  he  acquired  the  prac- 
tice, a  proficiency  to  which  he  was  prompted  by  his 
own  feeble  constitution.  He  began  active  life  by 
teaching  rhetoric  at  Csesarea;  but,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  his  sister  Macrina,  he  was  soon  led  to 
embrace  a  religious  life.  Being  baptized  and  or- 
dained as  a  reader,  he  made  a  trip  to  Egypt  and 
Palestine,  visiting  the  famous  monks  and  hermits 
of  those  countries.  Profoundly  impressed  with  the 
spiritual  value  of  an  ascetic  and  contemplative  life, 
but  appreciating  the  loss  to  the  world  through  a  self- 
ish withdrawing  of  men  into  solitude,  he  soon  estab- 
lished in  Pontus  a  convent,  where  the  advantages  of 
seclusion  and  self-denial  could  be  coupled  with  the 
mutual  aid  of  like-minded  brethren.  To  this  re- 
treat he  enticed  his  friend  Gregory,  and,  in  the  lit- 
tle time  which  they  there  spent  together,  the  two,  in 
addition  to  their  manual  labors,  devoted  themselves 
to  the  study  of  Scripture  and  to  compiling  selec- 
tions from  the  works  of  Origen.  But  Basil  had 
entered  upon  the  monastic  life  in  a  practical  spirit, 
and  had  no  thought  of  being  content  with  the  spirit- 
ual culture  of  himself  or  a  narrow  circle  of  friends. 
His  evangelistic  labors  reached  out  into  the  prov- 
inces of  Pontus  and  Cappadocia,  and  led  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  many  religious  communities,  and  to 
the  wide  preaching  of  the  gospel  of  unworldliness 
among  a  most  worldly  people.     Amid  this  monastic 


BASIL.  83 

work  Basil  did  not  forget  other  interests  of  the 
whole  Church.  By  his  writings  and  his  personal 
influence  he  was  a  firm  supporter  of  the  Nicene 
faith,  and  he  used  this  influence,  though  in  vain,  to 
keep  the  Bishop  of  Caesarea  from  subscribing  to  the 
creed  of  Arianism.  At  the  death  of  this  bishop, 
and  the  election  of  Eusebius,  a  civilian,  as  his  suc- 
cessor, Basil,  whose  work  against  Eunomius  had 
now  given  him  prominence,  seemed  likely  at  once 
to  have  the  real  administration  of  the  see  confided 
to  him.  Owing  to  the  jealousy  of  the  bishop,  this 
was  delayed  for  a  season;  but  soon  the  troubles 
arising  from  divisions  in  the  Church  and  from 
Arian  opposition  compelled  Eusebius  to  call  for 
assistance,  and  Basil  thus  became  the  actual  head 
of  the  diocese  of  Caesarea  some  years  before  he 
was  made  bishop  in  name.  It  was  a.  d.  370  when 
he  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  Eusebius,  which  he 
occupied  until  his  death  in  a.  d.  379 ;  and,  though 
in  very  delicate  health,  probably  no  bishop  ever 
crowded  into  a  shorter  space  so  much  and  such  good 
work  as  he  accomplished  in  these  nine  years.  An 
important  part  of  his  labors  was  the  reforming  of 
the  clergy  of  his  diocese,  into  which  body  would 
seem  to  have  been  received  many  incompetent  and 
unworthy  men.  He  also  resisted,  as  did  no  other 
bishop  in  the  East,  the  encroachments  of  the  Arian 
government.  Once,  at  the  coming  of  Valens  to 
Caesarea,  Modestus  the  prefect  summoned  Basil  to 
an  interview,  hoping  to  secure  his  submission  to  the 
faith  of  the  Arian  emperor.  The  bishop  appeared, 
but  confronted  the  officer  with  such  firmness  that 
he  exclaimed  indignantly  that  he  had  never  before 


84  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

been  addressed  in  such  tones.  "Apparently  you 
have  never  before  met  a  bishop,"  was  the  proud  re- 
ply. But,  if  somewhat  imperious  in  temper,  he  was 
also  princely  in  his  ideas  of  the  beneficent  work 
becoming  a  bishop.  The  charitable  institutions 
which  he  carried  on  in  Csesarea,  the  hospitals  and 
asylums  served  by  his  monks,  might  well  have  chal- 
lenged the  admiration,  if  they  did  not  awaken  the 
jealousy  and  the  emulation,  of  the  state  authorities. 
Happy  would  it  have  been  for  the  Church  and  for 
the  world  if  asceticism  and  monasticism  had  always 
resulted  in  such  practical  beneficence!  His  own 
example,  in  giving  away  his  whole  fortune  in  a  time 
of  famine,  gave  him  a  vantage-ground  as  a  preacher 
of  self-denial,  and  in  nothing  does  he  become  more 
eloquent  than  in  his  appeals  to  the  rich  in  behalf  of 
the  poor. 

Beyond  his  own  province  his  influence  was 
mainly  felt  as  a  supporter  of  the  orthodox  faith, 
and  a  promoter  of  the  peace  of  the  Church.  Espe- 
cially did  he  labor  to  interest  the  bishops  of  the 
West  in  behalf  of  the  confessors  of  the  Nicene 
creed  in  the  East. 

Still  Basil  was  not  the  defender  of  orthodoxy, 
nor  the  superlative  preacher  of  his  age.  That  he 
could  receive  such  an  extravagant  eulogy  as  he 
received  from  Gregory  Nazianzen ;  that  he  filled 
so  large  a  place  in  the  regard  of  the  Church  that 
the  fathers  at  Chalcedon,  seventy  years  later,  could 
call  him  "  the  greatest  of  the  fathers,"  must  be 
attributed,  not  to  his  books  nor  to  his  sermons, 
but  to  the  remarkable  personality  which  he  threw 
into  the  practical  every-day  work  of  the  Church, 


BASIL.  85 

and  with  which  he  impressed  himself  upon  all  his 
associates.  Such  was  this  personal  impression  that 
men  far  and  near  came  to  copy  his  individual 
habits.  Not  simply  to  accept  Basil's  opinions,  but 
to  be  a  Basil,  was  the  ambition  that  he  aroused  in 
his  contemporaries.  Athanasius's  greatness  was  due 
not  a  little  to  the  reflex  upon  him  of  the  great  cause 
which  he  advocated.  Basil  gave  greatness  to  an 
institution  by  becoming  its  champion. 

WORKS    UPON    SCRIPTURE. 

The  most  important  of  these  are  in  the  form  of 
homilies  and  addresses,  of  which  fifty-eight  are  now 
extant.  The  nine  homilies  of  Basil  upon  the  Hex- 
ameron  have  been  deemed  by  some  critics  the  finest 
of  all  his  works.  They  explain  the  Scripture  ac- 
count literally,  yet  with  elevation  and  breadth  of 
thought  and  with  elegance  of  expression.  Though 
evincing  great  erudition,  they  are  said  to  have  been 
prepared  hastily,  and  preached  morning  and  evening 
during  the  Lenten  fast.  Gregory  Nyssa  affirms  that 
men,  women,  and. children  of  the  humbler  classes 
flocked  in  crowds  to  hear  these  discourses,  and  tes- 
tified their  appreciation  of  them  by  their  applause. 
"The  most  simple,"  he  says,  "understood  well  his 
discourses,  and  the  wisest  admired  them." 

The  first  homily  is  here  given  almost  entire : 

Homily  I,  on  the  Hexameron. 
"  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." — Gen.  i,  i. 

I.  A  fitting  introduction  for  one  about  to  set 
forth  the  system  of  the  world  is  to  recount  before  his 
address  the  beautiful  order  of  things  visible.  For 
the  creation  of  the  heaven  and  the  earth  is  about  to 
be  treated — a  creation  which  was  not  the  work  of 
8 


86  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

chance,  as  some  have  imagined,  but  which  had  its 
origin  in  God.  What  hearing  is  worthy  of  the 
grandeur  of  the  theme  ?  With  what  preparation  of 
soul  ought  one  not  to  come  to  the  hearing  of  so 
great  things  ?  He  must  be  free  from  the  passions 
of  the  flesh,  not  blinded  by  worldly  care,  toilsome, 
apt  at  inquiring  into  everything  surrounding  him 
whereby  he  may  secure  a  worthy  knowledge  of  God. 
But  before  noting  the  precision  of  the  words,  and 
tracing  how  great  is  the  significance  of  these  few 
utterances,  let  us  consider  who  is  discoursing  to  us. 
For,  although  we  may  not  attain  to  the  full  meaning 
of  our  author,  on  account  of  the  feebleness  of  our 
intellect,  yet,  considering  the  authority  of  the  speak- 
er, we  shall  be  led  spontaneously  to  consent  to  the 
things  spoken.  [Brief  sketch  of  Moses'  educa- 
tion, career,  and  intimate  relations  with  God.]  This, 
then,  is  he  who,  alike  with  the  angels  deemed  wor- 
thy of  beholding  God  face  to  face,  speaks  of  the 
things  which  he  heard  from  God.  Listen,  then,  to 
the  words  of  truth,  not  as  speaking  the  persuasions 
of  a  human  wisdom,  but  the  oracles  of  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  their  aim  being,  not  the  applause  of  those 
who  hear  them,  but  the  salvation  of  those  who  are 
instructed  by  them. 

2.  "  /;;  the  beginning  God  made  the  heaven  and  the 
earthy  My  speech  pauses,  from  wonder  at  its  sen- 
timent. What  shall  I  say  first .?  How  shall  I  begin 
my  theme  ?  Shall  I  speak  of  the  vanity  of  those 
without .?  or  shall  I  sing  praises  to  our  own  truth  .? 
The  sages  of  Greece  have  built  upon  nature  a  mul- 
titude of  systems;  but  not  one  has  had  a  strong 
and  solid  consistence,  the  one  which  follows  always 
overthrowing  the  one  which  has  preceded  it.  Thus 
we  have  not  the  work  of  refuting  them,  since  they 
suffice  one  another  for  their  own  overthrow.  In 
their  ignorance  of  God,  they  did  not  know  that 
an  intelligent  cause  presided  at  the  creation  of  the 


BASIL.  '      87 

universe  ;  but  they  paused  with  the  order  of  events, 
as  was  appropriate  to  their  ignorance  of  the  first 
principle.  Some  took  refuge  in  materialistic  argu- 
ments, positing  the  cause  of  all  things  in  the  ele- 
ments of  the  universe ;  others  represented  that  at- 
oms, and  indivisible  parts  and  masses,  and  fibers 
{i:6pov(;)  contained  the  nature  of  things  visible. 
.  .  ,  Truly  they  weave  spiders'  webs  who  speak 
these  things,  who  thus  posit  fragile  and  baseless 
foundations  for  heaven  and  sea.  For  they  have  not 
known  how  to  say,  "  In  the  beginning  God  made 
the  heaven  and  the  earth."  Wherefore,  on  account 
of  their  atheism,  they  have  deceived  themselves 
into  believing  that  all  things  are  without  a  govern- 
or, unarranged,  as  if  directed  by  chance.  That  we 
might  not  be  influenced  by  which  [opinion],  the 
writer  of  the  creation,  almost  in  the  first  words, 
illumined  our  minds  by  the  name  of  God.  "  In  the 
beginning  God  made."  How  beautiful  the  order! 
He  establishes  at  first  a  beginning,  that  one  may 
not  believe  that  the  world  has  had  no  beginning. 
He  adds  immediately  "made,"  to  show  that  the 
making  is  the  least  part  of  the  power  of  the  Crea- 
tor. Like  a  potter  who,  after  having  made  with 
an  equal  energy  a  great  number  of  vessels,  has  ex- 
hausted neither  his  art  nor  his  power,  so  the  sov- 
ereign Maker  of  the  universe,  to  whom  belongs 
creative  power,  not  restricted  to  our  world,  but 
without  bounds  has  fixed  the  greatness  of  things 
visible  at  what  it  is,  solely  by  his  own  will.  If,  then, 
the  world  has  had  a  beginning  and  has  been  cre- 
ated, seek  ye  who  has  given  to  it  this  beginning, 
who  has  been  its  creator.  Rather,  lest  through  in- 
quiry by  human  reasoning  you  turn  from  the  truth, 
he  anticipates  this  by  his  teaching,  putting  forth  the 
most  honorable  name  of  God  as  a  seal  and  preser- 
vation, saying,  '*  In  the  beginning  God  made."  The 
blessed  Nature,  the  Goodness  without  measure,  the 


88  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

Best-Loved  by  all  who  have  reason,  the  Beauty  much 
desired,  the  Principle  of  all  which  exists,  the  Source 
of  life,  the  Light  which  lightens  minds,  the  Wisdom 
impenetrable — He,  "in  the  beginning,  made  the 
heaven  and  the  earth."  3.  .  .  .  "Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away."  The  preannouncement  of 
the  dogmas  concerning  the  end  and  transformation 
of  the  world  had  already  been  given  in  brief,  in  the 
elementary  instruction  of  inspiration  :  "  In  the  be- 
ginning God  made."  All  things  begun  in  time  of 
necessity  end  in  time.  ...  4.  [Sets  forth  that  pro- 
ficiency in  the  human  sciences,  as  in  knowledge  of 
the  heavens,  brings  men  into  greater  condemnation 
when  they  do  not  discern  God.]  5.  .  .  .  There 
was  a  certain  order  of  things  older  than  the  crea- 
tion of  the  world,  suited  to  the  celestial  powers, 
transcending  time,  eternal,  perpetual.  It  was  fit- 
ting that  to  this  pre-existing  world  should  be  added 
a  new  world,  which  should  be  both  the  school  and 
place  of  discipline  of  human  souls,  and  in  general 
a  home  suited  to  all  who  are  born  and  who  die. 
At  the  same  moment  with  the  world,  and  the  ani- 
mals and  plants  therein,  began  the  procession  of 
time,  always  urging  and  rolling  on,  never  ceasing  in 
its  course.  Is  not  this  time,  that  of  which  the  past 
is  no  more,  the  future  is  not  yet,  and  the  present 
escapes  before  it  is  observed  .?  6  and  7.  [Here  it  is 
shown  that  the  "beginning"  was  no  part  of  time; 
and  that  the  creation  was  not  formal  but  real.]  8. 
...  As  to  what  is  the  essence  of  the  firmament  we 
are  satisfied  by  what  was  spoken  by  Isaiah,  who  in 
commonplace  words  set  forth  a  conception  of  its 
nature  suitable  for  us  when  he  said,  "Who  hath  es- 
tablished the  heavens  as  smoke,"*  that  is,  has  fixed 
for  the  constitution  of  the  heaven  a  delicate  nature, 
not  solid  and  not  crass.     And  as  to  the  form,  that 

*  Isaiah,  11,  6,  LXX. 


BASIL.  89 

suffices  us  which  he  said  in  the  praise  of  God, 
"Who  hath  raised  the  heaven  as  an  arch."  ...  9. 
[Having  spoken  of  a  too  curious  inquiry  into  the 
nature  of  things,  the  author  says :]  But  it  is  neces- 
sary, whether  we  grant  that  the  earth  rests  upon 
itself,  or  say  that  it  lies  upon  the  water,  never  to 
recede  from  the  pious  opinion,  but  to  confess  that 
all  things  are  held  together  by  the  power  of  the 
Creator.  It  is,  indeed,  fitting  to  say  this  to  our- 
selves and  to  those  who  ask  upon  what  the  huge 
and  overwhelming  burden  of  the  earth  rests,  that  "  in 
the  hands  of  God  are  the  deep  places  of  the  earth." 
This  is  safest  for  us,  and  is  profitable  for  those  who 
hear.  10.  [Discusses  the  mediate  position  of  the 
earth,]  11.  .  .  .  From  the  grandeur  of  these  sen- 
sible bodies  surrounding  us,  we  know  him  who  is 
infinite,  exceeding  difficult  to  know,  surpassing  all 
thought  in  the  plenitude  of  his  power.  For,  although 
we  are  ignorant  of  the  nature  of  things  created, 
still  the  various  objects  which  fall  under  our  senses 
are  so  marvelous  that  the  most  penetrating  mind 
comes  short  of  so  understanding  the  least  things  in 
the  world  as  to  do  them  justice,  or  to  render  worthy 
praise  to  their  Creator.  To  whom  belong  glory, 
honor,  and  dominion,  world  without  end.     Amen. 

Introduction  to  Ho77iily  on  Psalm  I. 
(A  preface  to  the  study  of   the  whole   Psalter.) 

The  whole  of  Scripture  is  divinely  inspired  and 
useful,  being  written  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  this  end, 
that,  as  in  a  common  surgery  of  souls,  all  men  may 
select  the  medicine  for  their  own  ills :  for  "  medi- 
cine," it  is  said,  "  assuages  great  sins."  In  some 
parts  the  prophets  teach,  in  some  the  historians,  in 
others  the  law,  and  elsewhere  is  given  the  peculiar 
instruction  of  the  Proverbs.  The  book  of  Psalms 
unites  what  is  useful  in  them  all.     It  prophesies  of 


90  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

things  to  come  ;  it  recalls  to  mind  historic  facts ;  it 
lays  down  the  laws  of  life;  it  prescribes  the  things 
to  be  done ;  and,  in  a  word,  is  a  common  treasury 
of  wholesome  instruction,  discovering  diligently 
that  which  is  suitable  to  each.  It  heals  the  old 
wounds  of  souls,  and  brings  a  speedy  cure  to  those 
but  recently  hurt ;  what  is  ill  it  relieves,  what  is 
sound  it  preserves.  In  short,  it  eradicates  the  evils 
in  the  life  of  men,  spread  skillfully  under  whatever 
form  in  their  souls,  and  that  by  a  certain  winning 
of  souls  which  produces  chaste  and  sweet  and  wise 
thought.  For,  since  the  Holy  Spirit  saw  the  race  of 
men  restive  toward  goodness,  and  us  heedless  of 
the  right  life  by  reason  of  a  proneness  to  pleasure, 
what  did  he  do  .>  He  mingled  with  precepts  the 
agreeableness  of  harmony,  in  order  that  through 
the  smoothness  and  softness  of  the  sound  we  might 
draw  from  the  words  that  which  is  useful,  just  as 
wise  physicians,  giving  their  more  bitter  medicines 
to  the  sick  to  drink,  frequently  smear  the  cup  with 
honey.  .  .  .  Youths  either  in  age  or  disposition 
may  think  of  the  melody,  but  they  instruct  their 
minds  with  the  truth.  For  no  one  of  the  easy- 
going multitude  has  passed  away  who  has  ever  car- 
ried easily  in  his  memory  the  apostolic  and  pro- 
phetic precepts,  but  they  chant  the  words  of  the 
Psalms  at  home  and  sound  them  around  the  market- 
place. And  when  any  one  whose  soul  is  violently 
agitated  at  once  begins  to  sing  a  psalm,  he  is  imme- 
diately calm,  having  soothed  the  agitation  of  his 
soul  by  the  melody. 

Psalmody  is  the  tranquillity  of  souls,  the  arbiter 
of  peace,  soothing  the  turbulence  and  violence  of 
the  thought.  For  it  represses  the  passion  of  the 
soul  and  chastens  its  license.  Psalmody  is  the  bond 
of  friendship,  the  union  of  those  separated,  the 
reconciliation  of  those  at  enmity.  For  who  is  able 
still  to  cherish  enmity  toward  one  with  whom  he 


BASIL. 


91 


has  lifted  up  one  voice  unto  God  ?  Psalmody  puts 
demons  to  flight,  places  us  under  the  protection  of 
angels,  arms  against  nocturnal  frights,  rests  from  the 
fatigue  of  the  day.  It  is  a  support  to  infancy,  the 
ornament  of  youth,  the  consolation  of  old  age,  the 
most  beautiful  dress  of  woman.  It  makes  deserts 
habitable,  and  moderates  the  forum.  It  is  a  start 
to  those  beginning,  progress  to  those  advancing, 
and  support  to  those  nearing  the  end.  The  lan- 
guage of  the  Church,  it  makes  glad  her  festal  days, 
it  inspires  the  sorrow  which  is  according  to  God. 
Psalmody  draws  a  tear  from  the  heart  of  stone. 
Psalmody  is  the  work  of  angels,  the  employment  of 
heaven,  the  incense  of  spirits.  O  wise  invention  of 
the  teacher,  who  causes  us  at  once  to  sing  and  to 
find  out  what  is  useful !  .  .  .  What  is  not  there  to 
be  learned  ?  Are  not  firmness  of  courage,  the  per- 
fection of  justice,  grave  sobriety,  consummate  pru- 
dence, a  model  of  penitence,  a  standard  of  patience, 
whatever  you  can  mention  of  good  ?  Here  are  a 
perfect  theology,  the  prophecy  of  the  coming  of 
Christ  in  the  flesh,  the  threatening  of  judgment, 
the  hope  of  the  resurrection,  the  fear  of  punish- 
ment, promises  of  glory,  the  revelation  of  mysteries. 
As  in  a  great  public  treasury,  all  things  are  stored 
in  the  book  of  Psalms. 

Extract  from  Homily  on.  Psalm  XL  VLLL. 
"  You  had  need  of  a  Redeemer  to  secure  the 
freedom  which  you  had  lost  when  conquered  by  the 
power  of  the  devil,  who,  bringing  you  under  his 
sway,  would  not  release  you  from  his  power  until, 
persuaded  by  a  suitable  ransom,  he  should  choose 
to  exchange  you.  It  was  needful,  then,  that  the  ran- 
som should  not  be  of  the  same  nature  with  those  in 
bonds,  but  should  differ  greatly,  in  order  that  the 
captive  might  be  willingly  released  from  bondage. 
Wherefore  a  brother  could  not  release  you.     For  no 


92  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

man  is  able  to  persuade  the  devil  to  release  one 
once  under  him  from  his  power,  since  none  is  able 
to  make  atonement  for  his  own  sins  to  God.  How, 
then,  could  he  do  this  for  another  ?  Seek  not, 
therefore,  thy  brother  for  thy  redemption,  but  some 
one  who  surpasses  thy  nature,  and  not  a  man,  but 
the  God-man,  Jesus  Christ,  who  alone  is  able  to 
make  atonement  to  God  for  us  all,  because  '  him 
did  God  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  faith 
in  his  blood.'  .  .  .  What  can  a  man  find  of  such 
value  that  he  should  offer  it  for  the  redemption  of 
his  soul }  Yet  one  thing  was  found,  the  equivalent 
for  all  mankind,  which  was  given  as  a  price  for  the 
redemption  of  our  souls,  namely,  the  holy  and 
precious  blood  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  he  shed  for 
us  all.  Therefore  are  we  bought  with  a  price.  .  .  . 
He  who  redeemed  us,  considered  as  to  his  nature, 
was  neither  our  brother  nor  man ;  but,  regarded  as 
to  his  gracious  condescension  to  us,  he  calls  us 
brethren,  and  comes  down  to  humanity." 

Summary  of  Ho7nily  upon  Baptism. 

Those  not  baptized  are  still  in  darkness,  and  the 
Church  ceases  not  to  solicit  them  to  come  and  be 
renewed  in  the  sacrament  of  regeneration.  Decide, 
then,  to  be  baptized  without  delay.  Show  the  seal 
of  the  child  of  God.  The  true  motive  for  delay  is 
a  desire  to  indulge  yourself  in  evil.  There  will  be 
nothing  to  commend  in  giving  yourself  when  sated 
with  pleasure  and  ready  to  die.  Life,  too,  is  uncer- 
tain ;  also,  one's  ability  to  receive  baptism  if  so  de- 
layed. It  may  be  too  late  at  last,  and  then — the 
fires  of  hell ! 

Extract  from  Homily  on  pulling  down  and  building 
greater. 

"Who,  then,  is  the  miser.?  He  who  has  never 
enough.     Whom  do  you  account  a  robber.?     He 


BASIL, 


93 


who  despoils  others  ?  You  would  not  be  a  miser, 
a  robber  ? — you  who  appropriate  to  yourselves  what 
you  have  received  only  to  dispense !  You  would 
call  a  robber  him  who  strips  from  the  clothed  his 
dress ;  but  does  he,  who,  being  able,  does  not  give 
to  one  who  is  in  want,  merit  any  other  name  ?  The 
bread  which  you  hold  back  is  his  who  is  hungry ; 
the  clothing  which  you  keep  in  your  closets  is  his 
who  is  naked ;  the  shoes  which  you  let  rot  are  his 
who  is  unshod ;  that  gold  which  you  bury  is  his  who 
has  none.  So  that  you  do  wrong  just  so  far  as  you 
allow  tears." 

Basils  Confession  of  Faith  :  in  Homily  upon  Faith. 

"  We  believe  in  and  we  confess  that  there  is  one 
God,  sole  principle  of  all  good,  Father  all-powerful, 
author  of  all  things,  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  also  God.  And  [we  believe  in]  his 
one  only  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord  and  God,  alone 
true,  by  whom  all  things  have  been  made,  whether 
visible  or  invisible,  and  in  whom  all  subsist ;  who 
in  the  beginning  was  with  God  and  was  God,  and 
afterward  was  seen  upon  earth  and  lived  among 
men,  according  to  the  Scriptures ;  who,  having  the 
form  of  God,  did  not  think  it  a  prize  for  himself  to 
be  equal  to  God,  but  emptied  himself;  and  by  birth 
from  a  virgin  took  the  form  of  a  servant,  and,  be- 
coming a  man  in  likeness,  accomplished  all  which 
had  been  written  concerning  him,  in  accordance 
with  the  will  of  the  Father,  being  made  obedient 
unto  death,  the  death  of  the  cross.  And  after  be- 
ing raised  from  the  dead  the  third  day,  according 
to  the  Scriptures,  he  was  seen  by  his  faithful  disci- 
ples and  others,  as  it  was  written.  And  he  ascended 
into  the  heavens  and  is  seated  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  Father,  whence  he  will  come  at  the  end  of  this 
age,  to  judge  the  dead,  and  to  render  to  each  one 


94  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

according  to  his  works ;  when  the  just  will  enter 
into  eternal  life  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and 
the  wicked  will  be  reserved  to  an  eternal  punish- 
ment where  their  worm  dieth  not  and  their  fire  is 
not  quenched.  And  [we  believe  in]  one  only  Holy 
Ghost,  the  Paraclete,  by  whom  we  have  been  sealed 
for  the  day  of  redemption,  the  Spirit  of  unity,  the 
Spirit  of  adoption,  by  whom  we  cry  Abba,  Father; 
who  determines  according  to  his  own  will,  and  dis- 
tributes to  each  one  -the  gifts  of  God  according  to 
their  utility ;  who  teaches  us  and  suggests  to  us  all 
things  whatsoever  he  hears  from  the  Son ;  who  is 
good,  and  who  directs  us  into  all  truth ;  and  con- 
firms all  believers  in  a  certain  knowledge  and  an 
accurate  confession,  and  a  pious  worship,  and  a 
spiritual  and  true  adoration  of  God  the  Father  and 
of  his  only-begotten  Son,  our  Lord  and  God  Jesus 
Christ,  and  of  himself." 

Extract  fro77i  Address  to  Young  Me7i  on  reading  the 
Profane  Authors, 

[After  citing  the  examples  of  Moses  and  Daniel, 
it  continues  :]  "  It  is  sufficiently  proved  that  this 
pagan  learning  is  not  without  use  to  the  soul.  Con- 
sequently, we  now  say  in  what  manner  it  is  needful 
for  you  to  share  in  it.  First,  to  commence  with  the 
works  of  the  poets,  as  they  offer  discourses  of  every 
kind,  the  mind  is  not  to  fix  upon  all  things  in  their 
order.  When  they  show  you  a  good  man,  whether 
they  recount  his  actions  or  his  words,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  love  him,  to  take  him  for  a  model,  and  to 
make  all  effort  to  resemble  him.  Do  they  offer  the 
example  of  a  bad  man.?  It  is  necessary  to  shun 
the  imitating  of  such,  shutting  your  ears,  as  they 
say  that  Ulysses  did,  so  as  not  to  hear  the  songs  of 
the  sirens.  For  the  habit  of  hearing  words  con- 
trary to  virtue  leads  to  the  practice  of  vice.     It  is 


BASIL.  95 

necessary,  then,  to  v/atch  incessantly  in  guarding  our 
souls,  lest  that,  charmed  by  the  attraction  of  the 
words,  we  receive  in  our  ignorance  some  bad  im- 
pressions, and  with  the  honey  introduce  into  our 
bosoms  poisonous  fluids.  Thus,  we  do  not  approve 
the  poets  when  they  put  into  the  mouths  of  their 
characters  revilings  and  sarcasm,  when  they  depict 
love  or  drunkenness,  or  when  they  make  happiness 
to  consist  in  a  table  well  served  and  effeminate 
songs.  Still  less  should  we  listen  to  them  discours- 
ing of  their  gods,  ...  I  am  able  to  say  as  much  of 
the  historians.  As  to  the  orators,  we  should  keep 
ourselves  from  imitating  their  art  of  lying :  for 
falsehood  can  never  become  us,  neither  in  the  tri- 
bunal nor  in  anything — us,  who  have  chosen  the 
true  and  right  way  of  life.  But  we  should  collect 
carefully  the  recitals  of  these  authors  when  we  see 
there  the  praise  of  virtue  or  the  condemnation  of 
vice.  We  rejoice  only  in  the  perfume  and  the 
colors  of  flowers,  while  the  bees  know  how  to  find 
in  them  honey :  so  those  who  are  not  content  to 
seek  for  the  agreeable  and  the  seducing  in  the 
works  of  the  pagans,  are  able  even  to  find  in  them 
treasures  for  the  soul." 


CONTROVERSIAL     WORKS. 

Against  Eunomius. 

This  work,  in  five  books,  was  written  in  refuta- 
tion of  the  "  Apology  "  of  Eunomius,  which  was  a 
defense  of  Arian  doctrines.  It  has  in  part  the  form 
of  a  dialogue  between  Basil  and  Eunomius,  and 
was  deemed  by  the  ancients  one  of  the  most  valu- 
able of  the  controversial  works  of  the  Church. 

Book  on  the  Holy  Spirit. 

This  work  was  composed  upon  complaints  being 
made  that  Basil  held  unorthodox  views  as  to  the 


96  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Holy  Spirit,  since  he  closed  his  sermons  with  the 
words  "  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son, 
with  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  expression  "  of  whom," 
says  Basil,  which  should  be  applied  to  the  Holy 
Spirit  as  to  the  Son,  denotes  the  efficient  cause. 
The  Holy  Spirit  is  in  no  wise  inferior  to  the  Father. 
The  judgment  of  the  Church  with  regard  to  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  received  by  tradition,  and  is  in  accord 
with  the  Scriptures.  The  Spirit  is  a  person  eternal, 
infinite,  unchangeable,  who  perfects  and  strength- 
ens us  and  gives  us  life.^  That  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
to  be  joined  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  is  estab- 
lished by  the  formula  of  baptism.  Certain  objec- 
tions, however,  are  made  to  this  assertion,  but  we 
answer — i.  That  baptism  is  sometimes  performed  in 
the  name  of  Christ  alone  does  not  militate  against 
our  truth,  since  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  denotes 
the  whole  Trinity.  The  ordinance,  however,  ought 
not  to  be  performed  in  the  name  of  Christ  alone. 
2.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  joined  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  in  Scripture,  in  a  far  different  sense  from  that 
in  which  the  angels  are  so  joined.  3.  To  the  asser- 
tion that  the  Scripture  speaks  of  baptism  into 
Moses,  we  reply  that  such  baptism  was  only  typical. 
Another  sophism  of  the  heretics  is  that  we  are  bap- 
tized in  water,  which,  however,  is  not  honored  as 
divine.  This  is  ridiculous;  the  water  does  not  bap- 
tize us,  but  the  Spirit ;  the  water  is  joined  with  the 
Spirit  as  the  sign  of  the  death  and  burial  of  the  old 
man,  but  it  is  the  Spirit  who  gives  new  life.  Bap- 
tism is  administered  by  dipping  three  times  into 
the  water,  and  by  invoking  the  Trinity  three  times. 
The  baptism  of  Jesus  Christ  is  very  different  from 
that  of  John,  which  was  truly  only  a  baptism  of 
water,  whereas  the  baptism  of  Christ  is  the  baptism 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  of  fire.  Besides,  the  mar- 
tyrs who  have  suffered  death  for  Jesus  Christ  have 
not  needed  the  baptism  of  water  in  order  to  receive 


BASIL. 


97 


their  crowns,  being  baptized  in  their  own  blood. 
Further,  the  Spirit  is  to  be  joined  to  the  Father 
and  Son  as  an  equal.  [The  proof  of  this  is  given 
by  the  rules  of  logic]  The  same  glory  and  praise 
and  honor  are  to  be  accorded  to  the  Spirit  as  to  the 
Father  and  Son.  Some  contend  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  neither  a  Lord  nor  a  servant,  but  that  he 
is  free.  This  opinion  is  absurd,  since  he  either  is 
a  creature  or  he  is  not.  If  not,  then  he  is  God  or 
Lord ;  if  he  is,  then  he  is  a  servant.  He  is  called 
Lord  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  which  also  prove  his 
divinity.  [Many  testimonies  are  cited.]  The  mir- 
acles attributed  to  the  Holy  Spirit  prove  him  God. 
The  expression,  "  Father  and  Son,  with  the  Holy 
Spirit,"  means  nothing  else  but  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit.  The  fathers  simply  used  the  particle 
"  with  "  as  the  most  proper  to  oppose  the  errors  of 
Arius  and  Sabellius.  [The  author  says,  however, 
that  he  is  not  tied  up  to  that  expression,  provided 
all  be  willing  to  accord  glory  to  the  Holy  Spirit.] 
The  particles  "  in  "  and  "  with  "  are  distinguished. 
It  is  once  more  objected  that  we  ought  to  receive 
nothing  but  what  is  in  Scripture,  whereas  the  words 
"  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to 
the  Holy  Spirit "  are  not  found  there.  But  we  have 
some  very  common  practices  in  the  Church  which 
are  supported  solely  by  tradition,  by  the  use  of 
which,  in  addition  to  the  Scriptures,  our  holy  mys- 
teries are  preserved.  Both  these  authorities  have 
equal  power  for  the  promotion  of  piety.*  [Exam- 
ples of  the  usages  established  by  tradition  are  cited, 
among  them  the  making  of  the  sign  of  the  cross  upon 
those  who  hope  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
formulas  for  consecrating  the  bread  and  wine  of  the 
eucharist.]  This  position  is, supported  by  citing  the 
usage  of  Irenaeus,  Clement  of  Rome,  the  two  Dionysii 

*  an-e/)  afKpSrepa  t)]v  avrrju  hrx^v  ex^i  irphs  r^v  evtrelSeicuf. 

9 


98  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

(of  Rome  and  Alexandria),  Eusebius,  Origen,  Afrl- 
canus,  Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  Firmilian,  and  Meli- 
tius,  as  well  as  the  prayers  of  the  Church,  and  the 
consent  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches. 

The  Church  in  her  present  unhappy  condition 
is  like  a  naval  fleet  tossed  by  a  tempest  during  a 
battle,  and  obliged  to  struggle  at  once  with  the 
waves  and  with  furious  enemies. 

Extract. 

(i.)  "  Let  us  explain  what  are  our  ideas  concern- 
ing the  Spirit ;  as  well  those  gathered  from  Scripture 
as  those  which  we  have  received  from  the  unwritten 
tradition  of  the  fathers.  Who,  then,  but  is  elevated 
in  soul  when  he  hears  the  very  name  of  the  Spirit, 
and  seizes  upon  thoughts  of  the  highest  nature? 
He  is  called  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  Spirit  of 
Truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  the  right 
Spirit,  the  ruling  Spirit.  Holy  Spirit  is  his  leading 
and  distinctive  title.  .  .  .  Impossible,  then,  that  he 
who  hears  of  the  Spirit  should  picture  in  his  mind 
a  circumscribed  nature  subject  to  change  or  altera- 
tion, or  in  any  way  like  to  a  creature ;  but,  soaring 
to  the  highest  thought,  he  must  conceive  a  rational 
substance,  boundless  in  power,  unlimited  in  great- 
ness, immeasurable  by  time  or  by  aeons,  bountiful 
in  his  good  gifts ;  unto  whom  all  things  turn  when 
they  need  holiness,  whom  all  things  long  after  that 
live  according  to  virtue.  .  .  .  Perfecting  all  others, 
himself  wanting  in  nothing,  not  living  himself  by 
removal  but  the  giver  of  life ;  not  growing  by  acces- 
sions, but  at  once  complete,  stablished  in  himself 
and  existing  everywhere.  The  source  of  holiness; 
the  intellectual  light ;  giving  to  every  rational  power 
a  certain  enlightenment  from  himself  for  the  dis- 
covery of  truth.  By  nature  unapproachable ;  com- 
prehensible by  his  own  graciousness.  Filling  all 
things  by  his  power,  yet  communicable  to  the  wor- 


BASIL.  99 

thy  alone.  Not  communicated  to  all  in  the  same 
measure,  but  distributing  his  energy  according  to 
the  proportion  of  faith.  Uncompounded  in  his 
essence  ;  various  in  his  powers.  Wholly  present  to 
each,  and  wholly  present  everywhere.  Divided 
without  passion ;  being  shared,  yet  remaining  whole, 
like  a  ray  of  the  sun,  whose  favor  to  him  who 
enjoys  it  is  as  if  to  him  alone,  but  which  shines 
over  land  and  sea,  and  is  diffused  into  the  air. 
Even  so  the  Holy  Spirit,  while  he  is  wholly  present 
to  every  one  capable  of  receiving  him,  infuses  into 
all  a  grace  complete  and  sufficient,  so  that  partak- 
ers enjoy  him  according  to  the  measure  of  their 
ability,  not  of  his  power.  .  .  .  Cleansed,  then,  from 
the  disgrace  which  through  wickedness  has  defiled, 
and  turned  back  to  what  is  by  nature  good,  and 
having,  like  a  royal  image,  stripped  off  the  old  ap- 
pearance through  cleansing,  so  alone  it  is  that  one 
approaches  the  Paraclete.  .  .  .  He  shines  upon 
such  as  are  purged  of  all  stain,  and  makes  them 
spiritual  through  communion  with  himself.  And 
as  clear,  transparent  bodies,  touched  by  the  sun, 
become  glowing,  and  send  forth  from  themselves 
another  splendor,  so  Spirit-bearing  souls,  illumined 
by  the  Spirit,  become  themselves  spiritual,  and  trans- 
mit grace  to  others.  Hence  the  foreknowledge  of 
things  to  come,  the  comprehension  of  mysteries, 
the  discovery  of  secrets,  the  diffusion  of  gifts,  the 
heavenly  citizenship,  the  choral  song  with  angels, 
the  everlasting  joy,  the  perseverance  in  God,  the 
likeness  to  God,  then  the  goal  of  all  desires  to 
become  God." — (Cap.  ix,  sees.  22,  23.) 

LETTERS. 

To  trace  Basil's  correspondence  fully  would  be 
to  write  the  history  of  the  Church  in  his  day,  to 
fathom  its  controversies,  to  point  out  its  secret  and 


lOO  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

open  enemies,  and  to  detail  the  unhappy  relations 
of  the  East  and  the  West.  We  must  be  content 
with  extracts  from  a  few  of  his  three  hundred  and 
sixty  extant  letters. 

Fro7n  Reply  to  Gregory  Nazianzen. 

[Gregory  had  written  to  inquire  about  Basil's 
manner  of  life  in  his  monastic  retreat.] 

"  I  am  ashamed  to  write.  For,  although  I  have 
left  behind  me  the  diversions  of  the  city  as  the  cause 
of  innumerable  evils,  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to 
leave  myself.  I  am  like  those  voyagers  who  are  not 
accustomed  to  the  sea ;  the  motion  of  the  vessel 
which  bears  them  gives  them  an  unendurable  sick- 
ness ;  for,  on  quitting  the  land,  they  have  not  left 
upon  shore  the  bile  and  the  humors  with  which 
their  stomachs  are  surcharged.  That  is  precisely 
my  case.  So  long  as  we  bear  about  the  germs  of 
disease,  we  are  everywhere  subject  to  like  disturb- 
ances. I  have  not  found  great  fruits  in  my  solitude. 
But  what  we  are  to  do,  and  how  we  are  to  begin  to 
be  firm  in  the  footsteps  of  him  who  has  pointed  out 
the  way  of  salvation — for  he  said,  *  If  any  one  will 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up 
his  cross  and  follow  me  ' — is  this  :  We  must  try  to 
have  a  peaceful  spirit.  [Being  ensnared  by  the 
world,]  The  only  escape  is  separation  from  worldly 
things.  What  I  call  flying  from  the  world  is  not 
merely  to  separate  one's  self  from  it  in  body,  but  to 
detach  all  one's  affections;  to  be  without  country, 
home,  business,  society,  property;  to  be  poor,  un- 
occupied, unsociable,  untaught  in  human  sciences, 
prepared  to  receive  in  the  heart  the  canons  which 
spring  from  the  divine  teachings.  Now,  for  this,  it 
is  necessary  to  begin  by  destroying  in  one's  mind 
all  anterior  prejudice.  You  can  not  impress  upon 
wax  new  characters  until  after  you  have  effaced  the 
old :  so  divine  instruction  can  not  have  place  in  a 


BASIL.  loi 

heart  preoccupied  by  all  the  ideas  which  come  from 
one's  habits.  To  this  end  the  desert  is  of  the  great- 
est benefit  to  us,  soothing  our  passions  and  giving 
the  reason  the  calm  necessary  for  altogether  rooting 
them  out  from  the  soul.  For  as  wild  animals,  be- 
ing stroked  down,  are  easily  controlled,  so  the  lusts 
and  passions  and  fears  and  pains,  the  venomous 
evils  of  the  soul,  soothed  by  quietude,  and  not  ex- 
aggerated by  continual  rousing,  are  easily  restrained 
by  the  power  of  the  mind.  The  place  should  be 
such  as  this,  far  from  all  intercourse  with  human 
beings,  where  the  pious  exercises  of  the  religious 
life  are  not  interrupted  by  anything  without.  The 
exercise  of  piety  feeds  the  soul  with  divine  reflec- 
tions. What,  then,  is  more  blessed  than  to  imitate 
upon  earth  the  life  of  the  angels  :  to  rise  at  dawn  to 
prayer  and  to  the  praise  of  the  Creator  in  hymns 
and  songs ;  then  as  the  sun  shines  clearly,  and  work 
is  undertaken,  prayer  going  side  by  side  with  it,  to 
season  the  labors  with  hymrws  as  with  salt .?  For 
the  consolation  of  hymns  confers  a  cheerful  and 
untroubled  state  of  the  soul.  Quiet,  then,  is  the 
beginning  of  the  cleansing  of  the  soul ;  the  tongue 
not  uttering  the  things  of  men,  the  eyes  not  behold- 
ing the  fine  complexions  and  symmetry  of  bodies, 
the  hearing  not  breaking  down  the  strength  of  the 
soul  through  melodious  strains  conducive  to  pleas- 
ure, nor  through  the  words  of  facetious  and  jesting 
men,  which  especially  have  the  effect  of  impairing 
the  vigor  of  the  soul.  For,  not  dissipated  by  things 
without,  and  not  called  away  by  the  visible  things 
of  the  world,  the  soul  turns  back  upon  itself;  it  ele- 
vates itself  by  its  own  efforts  to  the  thought  of  God. 
Enlightened  by  his  beauty,  it  forgets  its  own  nat- 
ure; it  is  not  anxious,  then,  about  food,  is  not 
weighed  down  by  care  for  dress.  Disengaged  from 
earthly  anxieties,  it  gives  over  its  entire  being  to 
the  possession  of  immortal  good,  whereby  it  may 


I02  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

continually  maintain  self-control,  manly  vigor,  right- 
eousness, prudence,  and  the  other  virtues  of  this 
sort — everything  which  makes  for  life,  and  leads  one 
into  the  right  way. 

"  To  know  well  the  path  of  duty,  a  most  effectual 
way  is  to  meditate  upon  our  God-given  Scripture. 
.  .  .  After  the  lesson  comes  prayer,  and  occupies 
the  soul  filled  with  new  strength  and  power,  and 
stirred  with  a  longing  for  God.  Prayer  is  effectual 
to  awaken  in  the  soul  a  clear  apprehension  of  God. 
And  therein  consists  the  dwelling  of  God  in  us, 
that  we  have  God  enthroned  in  us  by  thought. 
Thus  we  become  a  temple  of  God  when  constant 
reflection  is  not  interrupted  by  worldly  cares,  and 
the  spirit  is  not  disturbed  by  sudden  desires ;  but 
when  he  who  loves  God  flies  all,  and  devotes  him- 
self to  God  who  drives  away  the  bad  inclinations 
which  lead  him  to  intemperance,  and  employs  him- 
self in  works  which  lead  to  virtue." 

From  Letter  to  Bishop  A7nphilochius. 

*'  Indicate  to  me  the  suitable  time  and  the  place 
in  which  we  may  bring  together  our  brothers  with 
ourselves,  that  we  may  take  proper  measures  for 
the  government  of  the  Church  according  to  the 
ancient  discipline ;  also,  for  seeking  to  unite  the 
brethren  whom  different  opinions  have  divided. 
Let  us  treat  them  and  receive  them  as  if  they  were 
of  our  party  and  our  friends.  For  it  was  once  the 
glory  of  the  Church  that  the  faithful  went  from  one 
end  of  the  earth  to  the  other,  with  short  letters  of 
recommendation  instead  of  traveling-money,  find- 
ing in  each  church  their  fathers  and  their  brothers. 
The  enemy  of  Jesus  Christ  has  deprived  the  Church 
of  this  advantage  as  well  as  of  several  others.  We 
are  limited  to  our  city.  Every  one  holds  his  neigh- 
bor in  suspicion.  Whence  is  the  cause  of  this,  if 
not  that  we  have  suffered  our  love  to  grow  cold,  by 


BASIL. 


103 


which  alone,  according  to  the  judgment  of  our  Lord, 
we  may,  as  by  a  seal,  recognize  his  disciples  ?  " 

To  the  Western  Bishops. 

"  We  implore  you  to  give  your  attention,  and  to 
abandon  yourselves  without  a  moment's  delay,  to 
the  zeal  which  love  should  inspire  in  you.  Do  not 
excuse  yourselves  by  reason  of  the  distance,  of  your 
domestic  affairs,  or  of  any  other  pretext.  It  is  not 
one  or  two  churches  alone  which  are  exposed  to 
this  furious  tempest ;  heresy  spreads  itself  from  the 
confines  of  lUyria  to  the  Thebaid.  The  infamous 
Arius  sowed  the  first  seeds  of  it;  it  has  been 
strengthened  by  multitudes  who  have  sustained  his 
impiety  with  ardor,  and  we  see  now  its  fatal  fruits. 
The  dogmas  of  the  holy  doctrines  are  abolished, 
the  unity  of  the  Church  is  destroyed,  the  passion 
of  ruling  has  seized  upon  the  souls  of  those  who 
fear  not  God,  and  the  bishoprics  are  abandoned  to 
them  as  the  price  of  their  impiety.  He  who  has 
spoken  most  horrible  blasphemies  surpasses  all  his 
competitors,  by  the  suffrage  of  the  people ;  we  no 
longer  see  marks  of  sacerdotal  gravity ;  there  are 
no  longer  pastors  who  have  sufficient  learning  to 
instruct  and  feed  the  flock  of  the  Lord ;  and  the 
ambitious  have  converted  to  their  own  uses  the 
alms  designed  for  the  subsistence  of  the  poor.  The 
exact  following  of  the  canons  no  longer  obtains; 
sin  is  committed  with  impunity,  with  great  license. 
Judgment  is  no  longer  given  with  equity :  each  one 
follows  the  movement  of  his  own  corrupt  desires. 
Those  who  administer  public  offices  do  not  dare  to 
speak,  because  they  are  slaves  to  those  who  have 
procured  the  offices  for  them.  A  species  of  war- 
fare is  made  upon  those  who  follow  the  good  doc- 
trine, and  men  cover  under  the  veil  of  an  apparent 
piety  the  hatred  which  they  have  in  the  heart.  You 
have  heard  of  what  has  been  seen  in  several  cities: 


104  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

men,  women,  children,  old  men,  remaining  faithful, 
are  thrust  without  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  there 
offer  their  prayers  and  suffer  with  an  incredible 
courage  all  the  injuries  of  the  open  air,  awaiting 
the  help  of  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Send  us  the  most  that 
you  can  of  your  brothers ;  that  the  number  may  be 
sufficient  to  constitute  a  legitimate  synod  ;  and  that 
the  merit  of  the  envoys  may  contribute  to  re-estab- 
lish the  faith,  by  renewing  that  which  the  fathers 
of  the  Nicene  Council  ordained,  and  by  cutting  up 
entirely  the  root  of  heresy.  It  is  the  means  of  re- 
storing peace  to  the  Church,  and  of  bringing  in 
those  who  have  cut  themselves  off  by  a  diversity  of 
opinion." 

ASCETIC     WORKS. 

No  works  of  Basil  have  exerted  a  more  power- 
ful influence  upon  the  development  of  the  Church 
than  his  ascetic  writings.  Besides  some  prelimi- 
nary discourses,  there  are : 

I.  The  Ethics. 

This  is  a  body  of  rules  of  morality  drawn  from 
the  Scriptures.  The  rules  are  eighty  in  number, 
each  divided  into  chapters,  and  each  chapter  sub- 
stantiated by  quotations  from  the  New  Testament. 
As  a  reason  for  so  basing  his  ethics,  he  alleges  that 
"  whatever  is  outside  of  inspired  Scripture,  being 
not  of  faith,  is  sin."  Rule  seventy  is  a  body  of 
laws  for  the  conduct  of  the  minister  of  the  Word. 
That  it  embodies  so  faithfully  the  permanent  prin- 
ciple of  ministerial  labor  is  sufficient  reason  for  giv- 
ing it  in  full. 

Rule  for  those  intrusted  with  the  Word. 

I.  Those  who  take  into  their  care  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel  ought,  with  prayer  and  supplication, 
to  appoint,  whether  as  deacons  or  presbyters,  those 


BA  SIL,  105 

of  a  previously  blamelesLS  life. — Matt,  ix,  37,  38; 
Luke,  vi,  13-16  ;  x,  i,  2  ;  Acts,  i,  i,  2,  23-26;  i  Tim. 
iii,  i-io;   Titus,  i,  5-9. 

2.  Ordinations  should  not  be  matters  of  ease, 
nor  should  they  be  yielded  to  inconsiderately :  for 
the  unproved  is  not  without  danger.  And  one  de- 
tecting any  one  in  wrong-doing  should  make  it 
known,  lest  he  be  himself  a  sharer  in  the  sin,  and 
that  others  be  not  offended,  but  rather  learn  to  fear. 
— I  Tim.  V,  22,  19,  20. 

3.  It  is  not  fitting  that  he  who  is  called  come  to 
the  work  of  preaching  of  himself;  but  he  should 
await  the  time  of  God's  approval,  and  begin  preach- 
ing when  he  is  intrusted,  and  preach  to  those  to 
whom  he  is  sent. — Matt,  x,  5,  6;  xv,  22-24;  John, 
viii,  42 ;  Acts,  xi,  19,  20;  Rom.  i,  i ;  x,  14,  15;  i 
Tim.  i,  I,  2. 

4.  He  who  is  called  to  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  ought  to  obey  immediately  and  not  to  pro- 
crastinate.— Luke,  ix,  59,  60;  Gal.  i,  15-17. 

5.  It  is  not  right  to  teach  heresies. — John,  x,  i, 
2,  7,  8;  Gal.  i,  8,  9 ;   i  Tim.  vi,  3,  4. 

6.  It  is  right  to  teach  believers  all  things  com- 
manded by  the  Lord,  in  the  gospel  and  through 
the  apostles,  and  whatever  is  consonant  therewith. 
— Matt,  xxviii,  19,  20;  Acts,  xvi,  4;  i  Tim.  vi,  2; 
Titus,  ii,  I. 

7.  If  any  one  intrusted  with  the  Word  of  the 
Lord's  teaching  is  silent  as  to  anything  necessary  to 
the  well-pleasing  of  God,  he  is  guilty  of  the  blood 
of  such  as  are  endangered,  either  by  the  doing  of 
what  is  forbidden  or  by  the  omission  of  what  ought 
to  be  done. — Luke,  xi,  52  ;  Acts,  xviii,  5,  6 ;  xx,  26, 

8.  In  regard  to  what  is  not  expressly  enjomed 
by  Scripture,  it  is  necessary  for  each  one  to  teach 
that  which  is  best. — Matt,  xix,  12;  i  Cor.  vii,  25- 
27. 


io6  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS, 

9.  It  is  not  permitted  to  lay  upon  others  the 
necessity  of  doing  what  one  does  not  himself  per- 
form.— Luke,  xi,  46. 

10.  One  appointed  to  the  Word  should  give  an 
example  of  all  good  to  others,  performing  first  what 
he  teaches. — Matt,  xi,  28,  29;  John,  xiii,  12-15  ; 
Acts,  XX,  35  ;   I  Cor.  xi,  i  ;   i  Tim.  iv,  12. 

11.  One  appointed  to  the  Word  should  not  be 
content  with  what  is  right  of  itself;  but  the  peculiar 
and  chosen  work  of  his  profession  is  to  see  the 
betterment  of  believers. — Matt,  v,  13  ;  John,  vi,  37- 
40;  I  Thes.  ii,  19. 

12.  One  appointed  to  the  Word  ought  to  visit 
all  the  cities  and  villages  intrusted  to  him. — Matt, 
iv,  23  ;  Luke,  viii,  i. 

13.  It  is  necessary  to  summon  all  to  the  obedi- 
ence of  the  gospel,  and  to  preach  the  Word  with  all 
boldness,  although  some  may  forbid  and  may  pur- 
sue even  unto  death. — Matt,  x,  27,  28;  xxii,  8,  9; 
John,  xviii,  20;  Acts,  v,  27-29;  xx,  23,  24;  i  Thes. 
ii,  I,  2. 

14.  It  is  right  to  pray  for  the  progress  of  believ- 
ers, and  to  give  thanks  for  the  same. — John,  xvii,  20, 
21,  24 ;  Luke,  x,  2 1 ;  Rom.  i,  8,  9  ;  Philip,  i,  8-1 1 . 

15.  Those  things  which  are  done  rightly  by  the 
grace  of  God  should  be  made  known  to  others  to 
the  glory  of  God. — Luke,  ix,  10;  Acts,  xiv,  26; 
Eph.  vi,  21,  22. 

16.  It  is  necessary  to  have  the  care  not  only  of 
those  present,  but  also  of  those  absent,  and  to  do 
all  things  as  the  wants  of  the  structure  may  require. 
— John,  x,  16;   I  Thes.  iii,  i,  2. 

17.  We  must  give  heed  to  those  who  summon  us 
to  good  deeds. — Matt,  ix,  18,  19;  Acts,  ix,  38. 

18.  It  is  necessary  to  establish  those  who  have 
received  the  word  of  truth  by  visitation. — Acts,  xv, 
36;   1  Thes.  ii,  17,  18;  iii,  1-3. 

19.  It  belongs  to  him  who  loves  the  Lord,  in 


BASIL.  107 

great  charity  toward  those  who  are  taught,  with 
much  zeal  to  train  them  in  every  way ;  although  it 
be  needful  to  persevere  in  teaching  publicly  and 
privately  even  unto  death, — John,  x,  11 ;  xxi,  15-17  ; 
Acts,  XX,  7,  II,  20,  21,  31 ;   I  Thes.  ii,  9. 

20.  He  who  is  intrusted  with  the  Word  should 
be  merciful  and  compassionate,  and  especially  to- 
ward the  souls  of  those  who  are  evil-disposed. — 
Matt,  ix,  11-13,  2>^. 

21.  It  is  fitting  to  think  compassionately  even 
of  the  bodily  wants  of  believers,  and  to  care  about 
them. — Matt,  xv,  52  ;  Mark,  i,  40,  41 ;  Acts,  vi,  1-3. 

22.  One  intrusted  with  the  Word  should  not  be 
zealous  to  work  with  his  own  hands  upon  trifles, 
to  the  neglect  of  a  fit  attention  to  greater  affairs. 
— Acts,  vi,  2,  4. 

23.  It  is  not  right  to  try  to  win  applause  or  to 
seek  to  make  gain  of  the  word  of  teaching  by  the 
flattery  of  the  hearers,  to  the  assurance  of  their 
pleasure  or  profit;  but  to  beseech  or  speak  unto 
the  glory  of  God  for  his  own  sake. — Matt,  xxiii,  5- 
10 ;  John,  vii,  16-18 ;  2  Cor.  ii,  1 7  ;  i  Thes.  ii,  3-6. 

24.  One  intrusted  with  the  Word  should  not  ex- 
ercise his  authority  insolently  toward  those  under 
him,  nor  be  arrogant  toward  them ;  but  ought 
rather  to  use  his  rank  as  the  opportunity  for  lowli- 
mindedness  toward  them. — Matt,  xxiv,  45-5 1 ;  John, 
xiii,  13,  14;  Luke,  xxii,  24-26;  Acts,  xx,  17-19;  2 
Cor.  xi,  19-21. 

25.  It  is  not  right  to  preach  the  gospel  through 
strife,  or  envy,  or  rivalry  toward  any. — Matt,  xii, 
18,  19;  Philip,  i,  15-17. 

26.  It  is  not  proper  to  employ  worldly  advan- 
tages for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  lest  by  them 
the  grace  of  God  be  obscured. — Matt,  xi,  25  ;  i  Cor. 

i,  17;  ii»  1-5- 

27.  It  ought  not  to  be  thought  that  the  success 
of  preaching  is  effected  by  our  own  talents,  but 


io8  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FA  THERS. 

that  the  whole  is  wrought  by  God. — 2  Cor.  iii,  4- 
6;  iv,  7. 

28.  It  is  not  proper  for  one  who  has  been  in- 
trusted with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  acquire 
possessions  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  his  own 
use. — Matt,  x,  9,  10;  Luke,  ix,  3;  Acts,  xx,  iTy\  2 
Tim.  ii,  4. 

29.  One  should  not  give  himself  solicitude  for 
the  worldly  affairs  of  those  who  are  busy  with  too 
much  care  for  these  tilings. — Luke,  xii,  13,  14  ;  2 
Tim.  ii,  4. 

30.  Those  who  through  obsequiousness  to  their 
hearers  neglect  to  speak  freely  the  will  of  God, 
making  themselves  servants  of  those  whom  they 
wish  to  please,  fall  from  their  service  of  the  Lord. 
— John,  V,  44;  Gal.  i,  10, 

31.  The  teacher  should  propose  as  his  object  to 
train  all  to  a  full  manhood,  according  to  the  meas- 
ures of  the  statures  of  the  fullness  of  Christ,  and 
each  one  in  his  own  order. — Matt,  v,  48;  John, 
xvii,  20,  21;  Eph.  iv,  11-13. 

32.  Opposers  should  be  instructed  with  forbear- 
ance and  meekness,  expecting  their  repentance, 
until  the  full  measure  of  effort  for  them  is  filled  up. 
— Matt,  xii,  19,  20;  2  Tim.  ii,  24-26. 

33.  It  is  right  to  yield  to  those  who,  through 
fear  or  reverence,  seek  excuse  from  the  presence  of 
the  preacher  of  the  Word ;  and  not  to  urge  con- 
tentiously. — Luke,  viii,  37. 

34.  It  is  proper  to  withdraw  from  those  who, 
through  obstinacy,  do  not  receive  the  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  and  not  to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  bene- 
fited by  them  in  things  requisite  for  bodily  wants. 
— Matt,  x,  14;  Luke,  x,  10,  11  ;  Acts,  xviii,  5,  6 

35.  After  completing  all  manner  of  effort  in  be- 
half of  the  disbelieving,  it  is  proper  to  withdraw 
from  them. — Matt,  xxiii,  37,  38 ;  Acts,  xiii,  46,  47  ; 
Titus,  iii,  10,  11. 


BASIL.  109 

36.  In  all  things,  and  toward  all,  it  is  necessary 
to  preserve  the  literalness  of  the  Lord's  words,  lest 
one's  action  be  biased. — i  Tim.  v,  21. 

37.  He  who  is  appointed  to  the  Word  should 
say  and  do  each  thing  with  circumspection  and 
much  consideration,  according  to  the  standard  of 
what  is  well  pleasing  to  God;  as  bound  both  to  be 
considerate  of  the  believers  and  to  bear  witness. — 
Acts,  XX,  18,  19,  -^Ty^  34;   I  Thes.  ii,  10. 

2.  The  \Monastic\  Rules  in  extenso. 

These  are  fifty-five  in  number,  arranged  in  the 
form  of  question  and  answer,  each  response  being 
a  little  treatise  upon  some  theological  or  practical 
question.  Query  two,  for  example,  is.  Concerning 
love  toward  God,  and  as  to  the  natural  inclination 
and  ability  in  men  to  obey  the  commands  of  the 
Lord.  Query  nine  is,  Whether  necessity  is  laid 
upon  those  who  are  devoted  to  the  Lord  to  give 
over  their  goods,  without  distinction,  to  the  ungrate- 
ful among  their  relatives. 

J.  The  \^Monastic\  Rules  in  Epito7ne. 

These,  too,  are  in  the  form  of  question  and  an- 
swer, being  313  in  number,  but  individually  briefer 
than  the  Great  Rules.  The  following  extract  is 
from  Rule  267  : 

Extract  concerning  Future  Punishment. 

The  question  is  upon  the  beating  with  few  or 
many  stripes.  "  Those  things  which  seem  to  have 
been  expressed  ambiguously  and  obscurely  in  some 
parts  of  the  inspired  Scriptures  are  to  be  explained 
by  acknowledged  principles  found  in  other  places. 
When,  therefore,  the  Lord  once  declared  that  *  these 
should  go  away  into  eternal  punishment  prepared 
for  the  devil  and  his  angels  ' ;  and  elsewhere,  speak- 
10 


no  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ing  of  the  hell  of  fire,  added,  '  Where  their  worm 
dieth  not  and  their  fire  is  not  quenched  '  .  .  .  while 
these  and  similar  expressions  occur  many  times  in 
the  inspired  Scriptures,  this  is  one  of  the  artifices 
of  the  devil,  that  most  men,  as  if  forgetting  such 
words  and  sentiments  of  the  Lord  and  so  many  of 
them,  may  prescribe  an  end  to  punishment,  to  their 
presumption  in  sin.  For,  if  once  there  is  an  end  to 
the  punishment  of  eternity,  eternal  life  also  will  no 
doubt  end.  But,  if  we  may  not  endure  to  think  this 
of  life,  what  reason  is  there  for  putting  an  end  to 
eternal  punishment  ?  For  the  addition,  tov  alcoviov, 
belongs  alike  to  both.  For  '  these,'  it  says, '  shall  go 
away  into  eternal  punishment,  but  the  righteous 
into  life  eternal.'  Since,  then,  things  are  confessedly 
so,  it  must  be  certain  that  '  to  beat  with  many  '  and 
'  to  beat  with  few  '  indicate  not  a  cessation  but  a 
difference  of  punishment." 

The  above  conception  of  punishment  as  unend- 
ing is  used  by  Basil  with  great  rigor  in  his  sermons 
and  in  his  letters  to  transgressors. 

^.  Ca7i07is  071  Mo7iastic  Pe7ialties. 

J.  Mo7tastic  Co7istitntio7is. 

A  work  upon  the  principle  which  should  govern 
the  lives  of  ascetics,  as  well  those  who  dwell  alone 
as  those  who  live  in  communities. 

Prijicipal  Exta7it   Works  of  Basil. 

HOMILETICAL  *.  Nine  homilies  upon  the  Hexameron  ; 
two  upon  the  "  Creation  of  Man  "  ;  one  upon  "  Paradise  "  ; 
twenty-two  upon  "  The  Psalms  "  ;  twenty-four  homilies 
and  addresses  upon  various  subjects.  Dogmatical  : 
"Against  Eunomius  "  ;  "  On  the  Holy  Spirit."  EXEGET- 
ICAL  :  •'  Commentary^  on  first  si.xteen  chapters  of  Isaiah. 
Epistolary  :  365  letters.  Ascetical  :  The  works  men- 
tioned in  the  text  under  this  head.     Canonical  :  A  letter 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN:  m 

to    Amphilochius,    laying    down    eighty-five    canons    of 
Church  discipline. 

Liturgical  :  The  Eastern  Church  still  uses  a  liturgy 
known  as  the  "  Liturgy  of  the  Holy  Basil."  What  part  of 
this  is  from  the  hand  of  Basil  it  is  now  impossible  to  tell  ; 
but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  corresponds  in  part 
with  a  form  of  service  prepared  by  this  father. 


GREGORY   NAZIANZEN, 

SuRNAMED  by  the  Eastern  Church  "Theologus." 
He  was  born  a.  d.  325,  the  son  of  Gregory,  bish- 
op of  Nazianzus,  and  of  Nonna,  a  holy  woman,  by 
whom  he  was  devoted  to  the  service  of  God  from 
his  infancy.  After  a  preliminary  training  at  Caesa- 
rea  of  Cappadocia,  he  studied  successively  at  Csesa- 
rea  in  Palestine,  at  Alexandria,  and  at  Athens,  ac- 
quiring a  finished  classical  education.  In  Athens 
he  became  intimately  associated  with  Basil  in  a 
friendship  which  proved  life-long.  He  also  had 
for  a  fellow-student  Julian,  afterward  the  apostate 
emperor.  Having  completed  his  studies,  he  be- 
came perplexed  over  the  choice  between  a  life  of  ac- 
tivity and  one  of  retirement,  a  question  upon  which 
he  seems  alv/ays  to  have  remained  perplexed.  Few 
men  ever  filled  the  place  of  Gregory,  in  the  eyes  of 
the  world,  who  had  such  divided  interests.  We 
never  wonder  that  Basil  won  the  surname  of  the 
Great,  for  he  had  one  sole  aim.  He  gave  himself 
to  the  monastic  life,  but  he  ever  used  his  asceticism 
as  a  means  to  the  one  end  of  becoming  a  more 
efficient  bishop.  With  Gregory,  however,  there  was 
a  painful  hesitation.     He  never  could  quite  forget 


112  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

himself  in  monastic  contemplation — the  wants  of 
the  world  were  too  apparent,  and  conscience  was 
too  keen  for  that ;  nor  could  he  throw  himself  with 
abandon  into  the  work  of  the  world — for  that  he 
was  too  self-conscious.  The  first  public  betrayal  of 
this  spirit  was  in  his  running  away  from  Nazianzus, 
where  he  had  been  ordained  as  an  assistant  to  his 
father,  into  a  monastic  retreat,  whence  after  a  little 
he  returned  and  made  a  public  defense  of  his  vacil- 
lating course.  Later  he  permitted  himself,  under 
pressure,  to  be  consecrated  bishop  of  Sasima,  a 
small  town  in  Basil's  diocese,  but  never  undertook 
the  duties  of  his  charge,  preferring  to  remain  with 
his  father  at  Nazianzus.  At  his  father's  death,  a.  d. 
374,  he  retired  into  Seleucia,  where,  some  four  years 
later,  he  received  an  invitation  to  undertake  the 
care  of  the  little  remnant  of  orthodox  (Trinitarian) 
Christians  in  Constantinople.  It  was  an  opportune 
work  for  Gregory.  A  man  of  versatile  talents,  an 
orator  of  consummate  eloquence,  he  went  to  the 
capital  of  the  Christian  world,  as  the  champion  of  a 
truth,  just  upon  the  eve  of  a  political  revolution, 
which  was  to  restore  to  that  truth  the  patronage  of 
the  state.  Then,  too,  the  Arian  intellectual  move- 
ment, which  was  in  the  nature  of  things  temporary, 
had  now  spent  its  strength;  and,  among  a  people 
ever  ready  to  bow  before  the  rising  fortunes  of  an 
idea  or  of  a  prince,  it  only  needed  a  brave  spirit 
and  an  eloquent  tongue  to  crystallize  the  accumu- 
lated truths  of  half  a  century  of  controversy  and 
stamp  them  indelibly  upon  the  popular  mind.  That 
spirit  and  eloquence  were  Gregory's.  The  little  con- 
gregation, gathering  first  in  a  private  house,  swelled 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  113 

to  fill  a  magnificent  church,  called  Anastasia ;  and, 
upon  the  coming  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  Greg- 
ory was  preferred  to  the  place  of  archbishop,  which 
dignity  was  confirmed  to  him  by  the  Council  of 
Constantinople.  Hardly  is  he  upon  the  throne, 
however,  when  his  characteristic  hesitation  appears. 
Owing  to  some  perplexities  which  had  arisen  over 
the  see  of  Antioch,  he  suddenly  pleads  a  desire  to 
retire  from  his  responsible  position,  and  asks  the 
council  to  grant  him  leave.  Too  easily  for  his 
pride,  they  granted  his  request,  and,  regretting  sad- 
ly the  scenes  of  his  glory,  he  retired  to  Nazianzus 
and  spent  most  of  his  remaining  days  in  quiet  upon 
his  country  estate.     He  died  a.  d.  389. 


DISCOURSES. 

Of  all  the  Church  fathers,  Gregory  was  the  most 
versatile  in  his  talents.  Theologian,  poet,  orator, 
bishop,  he  took  high  rank  as  each ;  but  his  super- 
lative merit  was  as  an  orator.  Earnest,  sincere,  im- 
passioned, his  discourses  were  yet  the  studied  pro- 
ductions of  the  finished  rhetorician.  Sensitive  to 
praise  or  blame,  never  quite  able  to  forget  Gregory, 
he  would  seem  never  to  have  neglected  careful 
preparation  for  each  several  oratorical  effort.  The 
■'  Discourses  on  Theology  "  are  to  Basil's  "  Sermons 
on  the  Hexameron  " — preached  after  the  hasty  prep- 
aration of  a  morning — as  a  finished  treatise  to  the 
spontaneous  outflow  of  a  full  mind.  But  Gregory's 
art  of  speech  was  art  of  that  consummate  order  to 
which  only  the  few  attain ;  and  while  Chrysostom 
will  ever  rank  as  the  great  preacher  of  the  early 
Church,  Gregory  must  be  placed  by  his  side  as  the 
ecclesiastical  orator.     Including  the  eulogies,  forty- 


114  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

four  of  his  discourses  are  extant,  of  which  we  give 
account  of  a  few  of  the  most  important. 

Five  Discourses  oti  Theology. 

In  these  discourses,  delivered  in  Constantinople 
shortly  before  the  second  general  council,  it  has 
been  said  that  Gregory,  in  a  few  pages  and  a  few 
hours,  summarized  and  closed  the  controversy  of 
a  century.  They  were  his  master  efforts  in  the  de- 
fense of  the  Nicene  faith,  and  won  for  him  his  title 
of  Theologian.  Together  they  form  a  complete 
treatise  upon  the  Trinity.  The  first  is  upon  the 
use  to  be  made  of  divine  truth,  and  is  especially 
directed  against  the  current  habit  of  even  the  mul- 
titude of  arguing  upon  the  most  august  mysteries 
of  religion  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  Only  the 
few,  it  is  here  claimed,  are  fitted  to  discuss  the 
nature  of  the  divine  essence,  and  even  they  should 
so  choose  time  and  place  as  to  speak  with  pro- 
found reverence.  The  second  treats  of  the  mys- 
tery of  the  divine  essence,  an  awful  theme  before 
which  the  speaker  recoils,  as  if,  like  Moses,  he 
were  penetrating  the  cloud  to  have  intercourse  with 
God,  "  Would  at  least  that  some  Aaron  might  offer 
himself  as  a  companion  of  my  ascent,  and  might 
stand  near  me,  even  if  himself  without  the  cloud ! 
For  souls  the  most  elevated  are  able  neither  to 
express  nor  to  comprehend  perfectly  what  God  is. 
It  is  doubtful  if  celestial  intelligences  are  able  by 
their  own  unaided  powers.  We  know  that  there 
is  a  God.  Our  eyes  and  our  reason  tell  us  that 
there  is  a  creative  and  preserving  cause  called  God, 
as  the  sound  of  a  lyre  reveals  to  us  a  maker  and 
a  performer.  That  is  all.  What  is  this  God  .> 
Of  what  essence  is  He  1  We  know  not ;  his  nat- 
ure escapes  us.  We  know  that  the  first  cause  is 
not  corporeal;  but  such  negation  is  not  definition. 

"  No  more  are  we  able  to  say  where  God  is.     If 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEISr.  115 

we  say  nowhere,  I  ask  how  can  he  exist  ?  If  he  is 
somewhere,  he  is  surely  in  all  things  or  above  all 
things.  If  he  is  in  all,  he  is  contained,  which  is 
impossible  for  the  Infinite.  If  he  is  above  all, 
where  is  he  ?  Must  there  not  then  be  a  limit  which 
separates  all  things  from  what  is  above  all  ?  This 
limit  constitutes  a  place.  He  is  then  in  a  place,  and 
we  are  again  in  the  same  difficulty.  Besides,  where 
was  he  before  the  world  existed  ?  All  is  impene- 
trable mystery." 

The  nature  of  the  divine  essence  is  then  above 
all  conception  by  human  intelligence.  It  is,  more- 
over, well  that  it  is  so.  For — i.  We  shall  esteem 
this  knowledge  more  highly  when  it  is  given  to  us. 
2.  We  should,  perhaps,  lose  ourselves  through  pride, 
like  Lucifer,  if  it  were  given  us  too  soon.  3.  The 
certainty  of  one  day  attaining  it  sustains  us,  in  the 
trials  and  combats  of  this  life,  of  which  it  will  be 
the  just  and  worthy  recompense. 

The  cause  of  the  impotence  of  our  soul  to  at- 
tain, here  below,  to  the  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
Supreme  Being  is  above  all  the  body  which  is  united 
to  it,  and  which  prevents  it  from  rising  sufficiently 
above  things  sensible. 

God,  to  accommodate  himself  to  our  weakness, 
has  in  Holy  Scripture  called  himself  Spirit,  Fire, 
Light,  Love,  Wisdom,  Justice,  Knowledge,  Word. 
But  all  these  names  suggest  only  comparisons  or 
images  drawn  from  created  things.  The  soul  ex- 
hausts itself  in  vain,  seeking  to  comprehend  the 
nature  of  the  Infinite,  as  it  is  in  itself.  It  yields 
before  the  task,  and,  unable  to  seize  it,  is  forced  to 
come  back  again  toward  created  beings.  Thus, 
either,  through  a  deplorable  bewilderment  which 
causes  idolatry,  it  makes  gods  of  these,  or  it  makes 
use  of  them  as  steps  to  lift  itself  to  the  knowledge 
of  God  the  creator,  the  ordainer,  and  preserver  of 
all  things.     That  is  all  that  it  is  given  to  man  to 


Ii6  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

comprehend  of  God  here  below.  The  saints  them- 
selves, who  have  seen  God,  have  not  seen  him  in  his 
essence,  but  only  in  form. 

Far  from  being  surprised  at  this,  we  should  re- 
flect that  the  nature  even  of  created  beings  and 
their  mode  of  existence  are  equally  involved  in 
mystery.  Gregory  then  shows  this  by  a  detailed 
examination  of  the  nature  of  man,  animals,  plants, 
the  elements,  the  stars,  and  celestial  spirits. 

In  the  third  and  fourth  discourses  Gregory  en- 
ters into  the  heart  of  the  great  subject  of  the  Trin- 
ity :  There  is  only  one  God,  who  is  the  sole  mon- 
arch of  the  universe ;  but  this  God  is  not  limited 
to  a  single  person.  He  is  three  distinct  persons, 
having  the  same  essence,  the  same  nature,  an  equal 
dignity,  and  always  united  by  concord  of  will,  by 
community  of  action,  and  by  a  perpetual  aspiration 
toward  unity.  The  Father,  who  is  not  begotten, 
begets  the  Son.  The  Son  is  begotten  of  the  Father. 
The  Holy  Spirit  proceeds  from  the  Father.  This 
generation  and  procession  are  eternal.  The  man- 
ner of  the  divine  generation  is  and  ought  to  be  im- 
penetrable. Man  can  not  understand  his  own,  much 
less  can  he  comprehend  the  divine,  generation. 
Angels  even  do  not  know  the  manner  thereof. 

Having  met  and  refuted  objections  of  the  Arians, 
Gregory  brings  forward  the  passages  of  Scripture 
establishing  the  divinity  of  the  Son  and  those  rep- 
resenting him  as  inferior  to  the  Father;  and  by 
tracing  rapidly  the  principal  features  of  the  life  of 
Christ,  shows  that  they  apply  to  his  double  nature. 
Ten  principal  texts  are  especially  treated,  and  the 
expositions  given  have  since  been  generally  received 
and  employed  by  defenders  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
As  to  the  names  to  be  given  to  God,  the  Supreme 
Being  is  indeed  ineffable,  and  the  name  which  he 
has  given  to  himself  is  that  which  least  defines  his 
nature,   namely,  '  I  am  that  I  am,'  or  simply,  He 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  117 

who  is.  Yet  each  of  the  divine  persons  has  a  par- 
ticular name,  namely,  Father,  Son,  Holy  Spirit. 
The  Son  has  various  names  applicable  to  him  as 
God  from  all  eternity,  and  others  appropriate  only 
by  reason  of  his  incarnation. 

Discourse  five  is  upon  the  Holy  Spirit :  Our 
adversaries,  even  those  most  moderate  in  regard  to 
the  Son,  say.  Whence  do  you  bring  to  us  this  strange 
God,  of  whom  the  Scriptures  do  not  speak  ?  Let 
them  reject  him  if  they  will,  but  I  will  take  the 
most  conspicuous  place  and  proclaim  the  divinity 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  will  apply  the  same  expres- 
sions to  the  three  persons  of  the  Trinity.  If  there 
were  a  time  when  the  Father  did  not  exist,  it  was 
when  the  Son  existed  not ;  and  if  there  were  a  time 
when  the  Son  did  not  exist,  it  was  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  existed  not.  But  if  the  unity  existed  at  the 
beginning,  so  also  existed  the  three  persons.  The 
Scriptures  teach  that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  neither  a 
divine  attribute  nor  an  accident,  but  a  person,  and 
that  this  person  is  not  a  creature  but  a  God.  As 
to  any  seeming  obscurity  of  Scripture,  he  says  that 
the  Old  Testament  speaks  clearly  about  the  divin- 
ity of  the  Father  and  less  clearly  of  the  divinity  of 
the  Son  ;  the  New  Testament  teaches  with  precision 
the  divinity  of  the  Son,  but  is  less  precise  as  to  the 
divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  it  was  well  that 
it  should  be  so,  for,  firsts  the  spirit  of  man  was  too 
feeble  to  support  all  at  once  so  much  light ;  and,  sec- 
ondlyy  it  was  better  that  the  divinity  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  should  be  clearly  proclaimed  only  after  the 
resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  Assurances  of  this 
truth  were  thus  given  in  the  great  miracles  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost. 

On  the  Dignity  of  the  Priesthood. 

This  discourse  was  prepared  as  a  personal  apol- 
ogy of  Gregory  for  his  flight  into  solitude  after  he 


Ii8  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

had  been  called  to  the  priesthood ;  but  his  grasp  of 
the  theme  made  it  a  grand  treatise  upon  the  duties 
and  dignity  of  the  priesthood.  He  had  not  fled, 
he  said,  from  insensibility  to  duty.  It  is  true  that, 
in  the  Church,  some  are  to  be  pastors  and  teach- 
ers, those  namely  who  are  superior  to  the  rest,  as 
the  mind  to  the  body  ;  nor  should  this  order  be  neg- 
lected. Let  no  one  absurdly  suppose  that  I  cov- 
eted a  higher  rank.  I  was  won  by  a  love  of  that 
retirement  in  which  the  soul  may  become  as  a  mir- 
ror reflecting  divine  rays.  Besides,  unworthy  men 
are  rushing  into  the  ministry  led  by  ambition.  Then 
I  thought  of  the  difficulty  of  governing  men,  which 
is  so  much  greater  than  the  leading  of  flocks.  It  is 
so  difficult  for  men  to  obey,  how  much  more  diffi- 
cult is  it  to  command  men,  especially  in  divine  mat- 
ters, in  which  the  greater  the  authority  committed 
to  one  the  greater  is  his  peril !  Nothing  is  easier 
than  to  have  one's  bad  examples  followed ;  but  how 
rarely  goodness  draws  to  virtue !  A  little  worm- 
wood will  make  bitter  a  great  deal  of  honey,  but 
much  honey  will  not  sweeten  the  wormwood.  Nor 
is  one  fitted  for  the  ministry  by  simply  being  him- 
self free  from  evil.  One  must  not  only  depart  from 
evil  but  must  do  good,  and  a  pastor  is  guilty  if  he 
does  not  day  by  day  approach  a  higher  perfection. 
He  must  lead  his  flock  with  tenderness,  not  with  con- 
straint and  violence.  But  even  with  all  virtue,  I  do 
not  see  how  one  can  undertake  without  fear  such  a 
leadership.  For,  to  rule  men,  the  most  variable  of 
all  animals,  seems  to  me  the  art  of  arts,  the  science 
of  sciences.  This  appears  when  we  compare  the 
curing  of  souls  with  the  curing  of  bodies.  The  aim 
of  the  physician  is  to  give  health  to  a  body  destined 
to  corruption,  a  health  which  is  ever  uncertain  and 
is  an  indifl"erent  possession.  Over  against  this  is 
the  aim  to  give  wings  to  the  soul,  to  draw  it  away 
from  the  world  and  give  it  to  God,  to  preserve  the 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEISr. 


119 


divine  image,  yet  remaining,  or  succor  it  in  peril,  or 
to  recall  it,  being  lapsed,  to  its  pristine  state,  to  ad- 
mit Christ  through  the  Holy  Spirit  to  the  domicile 
of  the  breast,  and,  to  sum  up  all,  to  make  God  and 
give  supernal  blessedness  to  him  who  is  of  the  su- 
pernal order.  Unto  this  end  tended  the  law  and 
the  prophets,  and  the  consummation  and  end  of  the 
spiritual  law,  Christ.  For  this  purpose  have  all  the 
mysteries  of  God  been  revealed.  Therefore  the 
generation,  the  Virgin,  Bethlehem,  the  choir  of 
angels,  the  shepherds,  the  magi,  the  baptism,  the 
temptation,  the  ministry,  the  cross,  the  tomb,  the 
resurrection.  And  of  this  medicine  we  are  minis- 
ters who  are  placed  over  others.  The  great  diver- 
sities among  men  increase  the  task  of  this  minis- 
try. Our  principal  duty  is  the  proclaiming  of  the 
divine  word.  All  think  themselves  fitted  for  this, 
and  I  wonder  at  their  temerity,  not  to  say  folly ;  for 
it  seems  to  me  to  demand  rare  talents.  For  it  is 
necessary  to  speak  of  all  doctrines,  above  all  of 
what  should  be  believed  of  the  august  and  blessed 
Trinity,  Herein  is  peril ;  lest,  on  the  one  hand,  in 
speaking  against  many  gods,  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost  sink  into  mere  names,  and  on  the  other, 
speaking  of  these  distinctions,  we  give  an  idea  of 
three  distinct  and  foreign  subsistences.  There  is 
need  of  other  things  to  make  such  discourse  effect- 
ive, namely,  a  mind  illumined  by  God's  Spirit  and 
a  talent  for  speech  on  the  part  of  the  preacher,  and 
docility  and  purity  of  heart  on  the  part  of  the  audi- 
ence. And  what  shall  I  say  of  those  who  preach 
from  a  thirst  for  glory  or  a  desire  of  power?  of  the 
ignorant  who,  like  swine,  tread  the  holy  doctrine 
under  their  feet }  and  of  those  who,  having  no  cer- 
tain opinions,  follow  the  thought  of  the  hour  and 
are  as  the  blind  leading  the  blind.-*  What  various 
talents  should  not  he  have  who  must  lead  different 
minds  each  by  its  own  suitable  method  !     And  who 


120  POST-NICEXE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

is  sufficient  unto  these  things?  Among  the  He- 
brews, the  reading  of  certain  Scriptures  was  wisely- 
allowed  only  to  those  of  a  fixed  age.  But  among 
us  there  is  no  limit  to  those  who  may  learn  and 
teach,  and  many  who  are  wise  only  in  their  own 
eyes  assume  to  instruct. 

Let  us  take  example  from  the  Apostle  Paul. 
Passing  by  his  sufferings,  and  persecutions,  and 
labors  for  his  own  support,  what  shall  I  say  of  the 
tribulations  of  his  mind  in  behalf  of  the  churches? 
of  his  entire  devotion,  his  burning  zeal,  his  willing- 
ness to  be  accursed  for  his  brethren's  sake  ?  of  how, 
after  Christ,  he  was  the  first  in  self-sacrifice  for  the 
salvation  of  men  ?  Such  as  unworthily  assume  the 
place  of  pastors  incur  the  denunciations  of  the 
prophets  of  old  against  the  false  prophets.  Who, 
therefore,  shall  rashly  give  himself  to  this  work  ? 
Shall  one  wholly  unfitted  allow  himself  to  be  at  the 
head  of  a  flock  of  Jesus  Christ  ?  I  tremble  at  the 
danger  to  which  he  thereby  exposes  himself. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  Gregory  declares  that 
he  has  returned  to  his  pastorate,  led  by  love  for  his 
fellow-townsmen,  by  the  need  which  his  parents 
have  of  him,  by  the  perils  of  disobedience,  and  es- 
pecially by  the  example  of  Jonah. 

Farewell  to  the  Church  at  Constantinople. 

In  this  address,  delivered  before  the  fathers  of 
the  second  General  Council,  Gregory  gives  an  ac- 
count of  his  administration  of  the  Constantinopoli- 
tan  church,  and  of  the  condition  in  which  he  found 
and  in  which  he  was  now  leaving  it.  He  sets  forth 
the  faith  which  he  had  preached,  protests  his  dis- 
interestedness, and  asks  permission  to  retire.  Fol- 
lowing is  his  peroration  : 

"  What  say  you  ?  Have  we  by  these  words  per- 
suaded you  and  conquered?  Or  is  there  need  of 
words  more   urgent?     Nay,   then,   by   the   Trinity 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEISf,  121 

whom  we  and  you  adore,  by  our  common  hopes, 
grant  to  us  this  favor,  dismiss  us  with  your  prayers. 
.  .  .  With  these  last  words  I  salute  you.  Farewell, 
Anastasia,  named  for  thy  piety  ;  for  thou  didst 
rescue  to  us  the  faith  until  then  despised,  thou  seal 
of  our  common  triumphs,  thou  new  Shiloh  in  which 
first  we  rested  the  ark  which  had  wandered  forty 
years  in  the  desert.  And  thou,  this  great  and  glori- 
ous temple,*  thou  new  inheritance,  having  thy  pres- 
ent grandeur  from  the  Word,  which,  once  a  Jebus, 
we  have  made  a  Jerusalem.  And  you  sacred  edi- 
fices which  rank  next  after  this  in  beauty,  and  which, 
scattered  throughout  the  various  parts  of  the  city, 
bind  them  together  as  so  many  bands,  you  which 
beyond  all  hope  we,  not  of  ourselves  but  by  God's 
grace,  have  filled. 

"  Farewell  apostles,  glorious  colony,  my  masters 
in  the  contest.  If  I  have  not  often  celebrated  your 
feasts,  perhaps  it  is  because,  like  your  Paul,  I  have 
for  my  good  a  messenger  of  Satan  in  my  body,  by 
which  I  am  now  separated  from  you.  Farewell,  O 
throne,  enviable  and  perilous  seat;  assembly  of 
pontiffs ;  priests,  venerable  in  majesty  as  in  years ; 
and  all  these  ministers  before  the  altar  who  draw 
near  to  God,  who  draws  near  to  us.  Farewell, 
choir  of  Nazarenes,  harmonies  of  the  psalms,  noc- 
turnal stations,  sanctity  of  virgins,  modesty  of  wom- 
en, companies  of  widows  and  orphans,  eyes  of  the 
poor  turned  toward  God  and  toward  me.  Fare- 
well homes  friendly  to  the  stranger  and  to  Christ, 
and  helpers  in  my  infirmity.  Farewell  you  who 
have  loved  my  words,  gathering  crowds  and  styles 
[for  writing  down  his  words],  seen  and  unseen,  and 
barriers  forced  by  those  eager  for  my  words.  Fare- 
well, O  sovereigns,  palace,  courtiers,  faithful  per- 
haps to  the  sovereign — I  know  not — but  unfaithful 

*  The  Church  of  St.  Sophia. 
II 


122  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

chiefly  to  God.  Clap  your  hands,  cry  aloud,  raise 
aloft  your  orator.  That  tongue  depraved  and  loqua- 
cious to  you  is  silenced ;  but  it  will  not  be  silent 
altogether,  it  will  combat  through  hand  and  pen. 
As  to  the  rest  we  are  now  silent. 

"  Farewell  great  city,  friendly  to  Christ — for  I 
will  heed  the  truth — but  whose  zeal  is  not  accord- 
ing to  knowledge ;  the  separation  makes  us  more 
friendly.  Come  to  the  truth ;  even  thus  late  be 
converted  ;  honor  God  more  than  in  the  past. 
Change  brings  no  shame,  but  continuance  in  evil  is 
fatal.  Farewell,  Orient  and  Occident,  for  whom 
and  with  whom  I  have  contended.  He  is  witness 
who  makes  you  at  peace,  whether  any  will  imitate 
my  conduct.  For  those  will  not  lose  God  who  re- 
nounce their  thrones,  but  will  have  a  seat  above  far 
more  exalted  and  secure  than -these.  Finally  and 
before  all  I  cry.  Farewell,  angel  protectors  of  this 
church,  and  of  my  sojourn  and  my  departure,  so 
only  as  my  affairs  be  in  God's  hands. 

"  Farewell,  O  Trinity,  my  care  and  my  glory. 
Be  safe  among  them  and  keep  them  safe,  my  peo- 
ple— for  they  are  mine,  though  I  am  directed  in  a 
different  way — and  announce  to  me  that  thou  art 
in  every  way  exalted  and  glorified  by  word  and  act. 
Children,  keep  that  which  I  have  confided  to  you ; 
remember  my  strivings.  And  may  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  be  with  you  all !  " 

PANEGYRICS    AND    EULOGIES. 

Not  least  noteworthy  among  the  addresses  of 
the  preachers  of  this  age  were  their  panegyrics  of 
the  martyrs  and  their  eulogies  upon  the  recently 
dead.  No  longer,  like  the  pagan  orators,  commem- 
orating virtues  which  had  ceased  to  be,  but  cele- 
brating the  careers  of  those  who  now  looked  down 
upon  them  from  glory,  they  rose  to  a  warmth  of  ad- 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  123 

dress,  a  sense  of  sympathy  with  the  dead  in  which 
the  noblest  of  pagan  eulogies  are  lacking,  and  which 
lifts  their  Christian  eloquence  above  that  of  the 
most  faultless  of  classical  eulogies. 

We  have  eulogies  of  Gregory  pronounced  upon 
his  father,  brother,  and  sister,  and  upon  Athanasius 
and  Basil.  In  these  he  seems  to  recognize  the  con- 
tinued interest  and  influence  of  the  departed  in  and 
upon  the  affairs  of  this  world. 

Eulogy  of  Gregory  the  Elder. 

Addressing  Basil,  who  is  present  as  his  friend 
and  as  the  metropolitan  of  the  Nazianzene  Church, 
Gregory  calls  upon  him  to  assure  the  flock  that 
their  good  pastor  is  still  present  in  their  midst, 
leading  them  in  the  sacred  pasture,  marching  at 
their  head,  knowing  his  sheep  and  known  by  them ; 
that,  if  not  seen  in  a  sensible  manner,  he  is  with 
them  spiritually,  fighting  for  his  flock  against  the 
wolves  and  robbers  who  would  turn  them  away 
from  the  holy  doctrine.  He  is  assuredly  the  more 
able  to  do  this  now  by  his  prayers  than  formerly  by 
his  doctrines,  as  he  is  the  nearer  to  God,  and  freed 
from  the  trammels  of  the  body. 

The  people,  he  says,  will  be  too  happy  in  find- 
ing as  a  successor,  not  indeed  the  equal  of  their 
pastor,  but  one  who  is  not  too  much  his  inferior. 
After  sketching  the  career  of  his  father,  recounting 
his  virtues,  and  aflirming  that  God  had  honored  his 
piety  by  extraordinary  signs,  Gregory  thus  apostro- 
phizes him  :  "  Make  me  to  know  in  what  glory  thou 
art,  what  light  surrounds  thee,  and  receive  into  the 
same  tabernacle,  after  a  little,  thy  wife,  and  the 
children  whose  funerals  thou  hast  before  prepared, 
and  myself,  either  suffering  no  longer,  or  for  a  brief 
time,  the  ills  of  this  life." 

He  closes  with  these  words  to  his  mother,  Non- 
na :  "  The  nature  of  God  and  of  man,  O  mother, 


124  POST-AUCENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

is  not  the  same;  or,  rather,  of  beings  divine  and 
earthly.  Theirs  and  that  of  their  belongings  is 
changeless,  immortal,  for  firm  are  the  things  of  the 
firm.  But  what  of  ours.'*  It  is  fleeting  and  cor- 
ruptible, and  liable  to  constant  change.  Life  and 
death,  though  they  seem  so  opposite,  revolve  around 
one  another  and  give  place  to  one  another.  The 
former,  beginning  in  the  corruption  of  the  mother, 
passing  on  through  the  corruption  which  is  ever 
around  us,  comes  to  an  end  in  corruption  at  the 
dissolution  of  life.  The  latter,  which  frees  from 
present  evils,  and  frequently  leads  to  life  supernal, 
I  know  not  whether  it  is  properly  called  death, 
which  is,  in  name  rather  than  in  its  nature,  fearful. 
And  how  absurdly  we  seem  to  be  affected  who 
dread  those  things  which  should  be  the  least  depre- 
cated, and  cling  to  what  should  be  feared  as  the 
rather  desirable !  One  thing  is  life,  to  anticipate 
life.  One  thing  is  sin :  for  it  is  the  destruction  of 
the  soul.  Other  things  of  which  we  think  so  much 
are  waking  visions,  making  sport  of  realities,  delu- 
sions, spectres  of  the  mind.  If,  O  mother,  we  fix 
upon  these  things,  we  shall  not  think  too  highly  of 
life,  nor  be  too  much  cast  down  by  death.  What 
so  great  misfortune,  then,  do  we  suffer,  if  we  attain 
to  the  true  life ;  if,  freed  from  the  vicissitudes,  the 
deceits,  the  disgusts,  and  the  exactions  of  this 
shameful  tribute,  with  things  stable,  not  fleeting,  we 
become  lesser'  lights  revolving  around  that  great 
light  1  But  does  the  separation  pain  thee  1  Let 
the  hope  of  reunion  delight  thee !  .  .  .  You  have 
lost  sons  in  the  vigor  of  manhood,  full  of  life,  and 
you  have  borne  it  with  as  much  of  courage  as  of 
wisdom.  To-day,  as  you  have  witnessed  the  yield- 
ing of  a  body  borne  down  under  the  weight  of 
years,  and  which  was  surviving  itself,  although  the 
vigor  of  his  soul  still  kept  each  of  the  senses  intact, 
show  yourself  equally  firm.     You  have  no  one  to 


GREGORY  NAZI  AN  ZEN,  125 

take  care  of  you?  Have  you  not  always  your 
Isaac,  who  has  been  left  to  you  to  take  the  place  to 
you  of  all  the  rest  ?  Alas !  how  slight  the  domes- 
tic services  which  you  are  able  to  receive  from  my 
zeal !  I  ask  of  you  something  more  important :  your 
maternal  benediction,  the  help  of  your  prayers  for 
the  coming  emancipation.  Does  such  advice  make 
you  uneasy  ?  I  do  not  blame  you.  It  is  the  same 
that  you  have  been  the  first  to  give  to  all  those  who, 
in  the  course  of  the  long  life  which  you  have  lived, 
have  loved  so  much  to  be  ruled  by  your  counsels. 
It  is  not,  then,  to  you  that  they  are  addressed,  to 
you  the  wisest  of  women ;  I  present  them  to  all 
afflicted  hearts. — Mortals,  let  us  not  forget  that 
those  for  whom  we  have  to  weep  were  mortals." 


LETTERS. 

The  peculiar  genius  of  Gregory  is  seen  in  his 
letters,  of  which  we  have  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three.  Here  appear  that  eloquence  and  versatility 
upon  which  rest  his  claims  to  celebrity.  We  prize 
Basil's  letters  chiefly  for  their  historical  value. 
Gregory's  merit  a  literary  rank  beside  the  letters  of 
Cicero  and  Pliny.  Their  subjects  are  of  a  wide 
range ;  they  are  written  in  an  excellent  style,  and, 
besides  the  erudition  which  they  reveal,  they  breathe 
a  certain  air  of  delicacy  and  politeness,  of  grace 
and  sweetness,  which  always  charms.  A  single  ex- 
ample must  suffice. 

Letter  to  Thecla, 
(On  the  death  of  her  brother  Sacerdos). 

"  In  spite  of  my  age  and  feebleness,  I  incline  to 
come  to  your  piety,  to  see  you  and  at  the  same  time 
congratulate  you  upon  the  firmness  worthy  of  a  phi- 
losopher which  you  have  displayed  in  regard  to  your 


126  POST-NICENE   GREEK   FATHERS. 

blessed  brother.  I  say  blessed,  for  I  have  no  doubt 
as  to  this.  But,  having  been  prevented  from  com- 
ing to  you,  I  am  compelled  to  have  recourse  to  a 
letter  to  address  to  you  some  philosophical  words 
upon  your  situation. 

"  Who,  then,  gave  to  us  the  illustrious  Sacerdos, 
that  worthy  servant  of  God  who  is  such  to-day  as 
in  the  past  .^  God.  Where  is  he  now  .^  Near  to 
God.  I  see  too  that  it  is  not  without  pleasure  that 
he  has  escaped  from  envy  and  struggles  with  the 
spirit  of  evil.  And  whence  did  we  come .''  Was  it 
not  from  the  same  source  .?  Whither  are  we  going  ? 
Is  it  not  to  the  same  Master.?  Yes,  without  doubt, 
and  let  us  be  able  to  do  so  with  the  same  assurance. 
Worshipers  of  the  same  God,  we  have  been  upon 
the  earth,  and  we  shall  go  from  it  in  the  same  man- 
ner, after  having  suffered  here  some  little  things — 
little  at  least  in  comparison  with  the  hopes  of  the 
other  life — and  these  little  things  we  perhaps  suffer 
only  that  we  may  learn  to  appreciate  the  happiness. 
That  father,  mother,  and  brother,  who  have  gone 
before  us,  what  are  they.''  A  succession  of  travel- 
ers who  deserve  our  praises.  Thecla,  the  servant 
of  Cxod,  who  holds  the  first  rank  among  good 
people,  will  soon  follow  them,  after  having  tar- 
ried a  little — long  enough  to  honor  the  dead,  and 
to  become  to  many  persons  a  model  of  philos- 
ophy in  this  respect.  Let  us,  then,  praise  that 
Power  always  immutable,  and  accept  his  decisions 
with  sentiments  more  elevated  than  those  of  the 
vulgar. 

"  For  the  present,  receive  these  lines  in  place  of 
my  visit,  and  cherish  these  thoughts,  although  you 
may  yourself  find  better  ones.  If,  besides,  it  shall 
be  granted  me  in  person  to  see  you  and  those  who 
are  with  you,  my  thanks  to  my  Benefactor  shall  be 
more  abundant." 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  127 

POEMS. 

Gregory  was  the  first  of  the  Greek  Christian 
poets  to  approach,  even  if  at  some  distance,  the 
poets  of  antiquity.  Most  of  his  poems  were  writ- 
ten during  the  leisure  of  his  closing  years.  They 
more  than  suggest  to  us  the  Alexandrian  profes- 
sional poets,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  let  it  be  said, 
first,  that  no  writer  of  verses  ever  surpassed  Greg- 
ory in  that  elegant  culture  and  that  experience  of 
the  vicissitudes  of  life  which  are  fitted  to  equip  a 
poet;  and,  secondly,  that  Gregory  was  not  without 
the  true  poetic  fire.  Alexandria  could  only  pro- 
duce elegant  forms  ;  for  the  old  faiths  were  decayed, 
and  no  Muse  spoke  through  her  polished  measures. 
But  behind  Gregory,  heir  of  the  Alexandrian  and 
Athenian  culture,  was  Christianity.  New  emotions, 
of  which  the  old  poets  never  dreamed,  were  now 
awaiting  utterance,  and  Gregory  so  voiced  them  as 
to  create  a  new  order  of  poetry,  that  of  religious 
meditation  or  philosophic  reverie.  A  distinguished 
critic  has  said :  "  It  was  in  the  new  forms  of  a  con- 
templative poetry,  in  that  grieving  of  a  man  over 
himself,  in  that  7nelancolie  intime  so  little  known  to 
the  ancient  poets,  that  the  Christian  imagination 
was  especially  to  contend  with  them  without  disad- 
vantage. There,  out  of  it,  was  born  that  poesy 
which  modern  satiety  seeks,  the  poetry  of  reflection 
which  penetrates  to  man's  heart,  describes  his  most 
intimate  thoughts  and  vaguest  longings."  Not  all 
of  Gregory's  modern  successors  in  this  department 
of  poetry  have  uttered  so  well  the  Christian  hopes, 
and  fears,  and  sorrows.  Certainly  no  one  else  de- 
serves recognition  as  the  father  of  our  modern  po- 
ets, who  analyze  our  feelings  and  reveal  us  to  our- 
selves, as  does  Gregory. 

His  verses  numbered  thirty  thousand.  Modern 
editors  have  classified  them  as — i.  Dogmatical;  2. 


128  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Moral;  3.  Personal  poems ;  4.  Epistolary ;  5.  Epi- 
taphs; 6.  Epigrams.  The  dogmatical  poems,  num- 
bering thirty-eight,  are  in  part  metrical  theses  on 
the  great  mysteries  of  the  faith,  part  pieces  to  aid 
in  the  memory  of  Scripture,  and  in  part  hymns  and 
prayers.  An  admirer  has  likened  Gregory  to  Dante 
in  his  importation  from  theological  science  into  po- 
etry of  grand  and  exalted  ideas,  which  would  never 
have  been  reached  by  the  unaided  imagination. 
Following  is  a  translation  of  one  of  the  hymns: 

Hymn  to  God. 

"  O  Being  above  all  beings  !  for  how  else  may  we 
rightly  celebrate  thee.^  How  can  tongue  praise 
thee .''  for  thou  art  speakable  by  no  tongue.  How 
can  mind  comprehend  thee .''  for  thou  art  compre- 
hensible by  no  mind.  Alone  thou  art  ineffable ; 
since  thou  hast  brought  forth  whatever  speaks. 
Alone  thou  art  incomprehensible;  since  thou  hast 
brought  forth  whatever  thinks.  All  things,  speak- 
ing and  silent,  celebrate  thee.  All  things,  rational 
and  irrational,  do  thee  homage.  The  common  de- 
sires and  pangs  of  all  are  around  thee;  to  thee 
are  raised  all  prayers.  Thee  do  all  who  compre- 
hend thy  being  celebrate  with  one  accord  in  silent 
canticles.  In  thee  alone  all  things  abide.  To 
thee  at  once  do  all  things  move.  Thou  art  the 
end  of  all,  the  only,  the  all,  and  none  of  these :  not 
the  only,  not  the  all.  Having  all  names,  how  shall 
I  designate  thee,  who  alone  canst  not  be  named  } 
What  celestial  mind  shall  penetrate  the  veils  above 
the  clouds .?  Be  propitious  to  us,  Being  above  all 
beings,  for  how  else  may  we  rightly  celebrate  thee }  " 

There  are  forty  of  the  moral  poems.  Their 
evident  aim  is  to  show  the  vanity  of  worldly  things, 
and  detach  men's  hearts  from  the  world;  to  com- 
bat vice   and   celebrate  virtue;    and   to  fix   moral 


GREGORY  NAZIANZEN.  129 

truths  in  the  soul.  Several  of  the  longest  are  de- 
voted to  the  praises  of  virginity,  the  most  celebrated 
of  these  being  a  hexameter  of  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-two  verses.  A  dialogue  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  poem  holds  high  discourse  of  time  "  When 
black  night  beclouded  all,"  and  "light  first  was," 
by  the  decree  of  the  blessed  Christ ;  and  when  the 
Father,  praising  the  work  of  the  Son,  announces 
his  will  to  create  man.  The  theme  soon  descends 
to  the  commonplace ;  but  so  truly  sublime  is  the 
atmosphere  of  this  opening,  that  a  critic,  by  no 
means  flattering  to  Gregory's  poetry  as  a  whole,  has 
questioned  whether  even  Milton  and  Michael  An- 
gelo  did  not  draw  inspiration  from  this  dialogue. 

It  is  in  his  personal  poems  that  Gregory  is  most 
original  and  interesting.  We  have  ninety-nine  of 
these  poems,  ranging  from  an  autobiography  of 
1,949  verses  to  epitaphs  of  a  few  lines.  The  collec- 
tion is  like  a  journal  in  which  the  poet  recounts  all 
his  varying  impressions,  and  lays  his  soul  bare  to 
the  world  ;  being  in  this  respect  a  prototype  of  the 
"  Confessions "  of  Augustine.  We  are  happy  in 
having  a  rendering  of  one  of  these  poems  by  Mrs. 
Browning,  from  which  we  take  the  following : 

To  his  Soul  and  Body, 

What  wilt  thou  possess  or  be .' 

0  my  soul,  I  ask  of  thee. 
What  of  great,  or  what  of  small, 
Counted  precious  therewithal } 
Be  it  only  rare,  and  want  it, 

1  am  ready,  soul,  to  grant  it. 
Wilt  thou  choose  to  have  and  hold 
Lydian  Gyges'  charm  of  old. 

So  to  rule  us  with  a  ring. 
Turning  round  the  jeweled  thing,      * 
Hidden  by  its  face  concealed, 
And  revealed  by  its  revealed  } 


I30  POST-iXICEXE   CREEK  FA  THERS. 

Or  preferrest  Midas'  fate — 
He  who  died  in  golden  state — 
All  things  being  changed  to  gold  ? 
Of  a  golden  hunger  dying, 
Through  a  surfeit  of  "  would  I  "-ing. 
Wilt  have  jewels  brightly  cold, 
Or  may  fertile  acres  please  ? 
Or  the  sheep  of  many  a  fold, 
Camels,  oxen,  for  the  wold  ? 
Nay !     I  will  not  give  thee  these  ! 
These  to  take  thou  hast  not  will, 
These  to  give  I  have  not  skill ; 
Since  I  cast  earth's  cares  abroad. 
That  day  when  I  turned  to  God. 

What  then  wouldst  thou,  if  thy  mood 
Choose  not  these  ?  what  wilt  thou  be, 
O  my  soul  ?  a  deity  ? 
A  God  before  the  face  of  God, 
Standing  glorious  in  his  glories, 
Choral  in  his  angels'  chorus? 

Go  !  upon  thy  wing  arise. 
Plumed  by  quick  energies. 
Mount  in  circles  up  the  skies; 
And  I  will  bless  thy  winged  passion. 
Help  with  words  thine  exaltation. 
And,  like  a  bird  of  rapid  feather, 
Outlaunch  thee,  soul,  upon  the  ether. 

But  thou,  O  fleshly  nature,  say. 
Thou  with  odors  from  the  clay. 
Since  thy  presence  I  must  have, 
As  a  lady  with  a  slave. 
What  wouldst  thou  possess  or  be 
That  thy  breath  may  stay  with  thee  ? 
Nay !     I  owe  thee  naught  beside, 
Though  thine  hands  be  open  wide. 


GREGORY  NAZTAN-ZEN:  131 

Would  a  table  suit  thy  wishes, 

Fragrant  with  sweet  oils  and  dishes 

Wrought  to  subtile  niceness  ?  where 

Stringed  music  strokes  the  air, 

And  blithe  hand-clappings,  and  the  smooth 

Fine  postures  of  the  tender  youth. 

And  virgins  wheeling  through  the  dance, 

With  an  unveiled  countenance — 

Joys  for  drinkers,  who  love  shame, 

And  the  maddening  wine-cup's  flame. 

Wilt  thou  such,  howe'er  decried  ? 

Take  them — and  a  rope  beside  ! 

Nay !  this  boon  I  give  instead 
Unto  friend  insatiated : 
May  some  rocky  house  receive  thee, 
Self-roofed,  to  conceal  thee  chiefly ; 
Or  if  labor  there  must  lurk, 
Be  it  by  a  short  day's  work ! 
And  for  garment,  camel's-hair, 
As  the  righteous  clothed  were, 
Clothe  thee ! 

And  thus  I  speak  to  mortals  low 
Living  for  the  hour,  and  o'er 
Its  shadows,  seeing  nothing  more ; 
But  for  those  of  nobler  bearing, 
Who  live  more  worthily  of  wearing 
A  portion  of  the  heavenly  nature — 
To  low  estate  of  clayey  creature, 
See,  I  bring  the  beggar's  meed. 
Nutriment  beyond  the  need  ! 
Oh,  beholder  of  the  Lord, 
Prove  on  me  the  flaming  sword ! 
Be  mine  husbandman,  to  nourish 
Holy  plants,  that  words  may  flourish 
Of  which  mine  enemy  would  spoil  me, 
Using  pleasurehood  to  foil  me  ! 


132  POST-NICE. YE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Lead  me  closer  to  the  tree 

Of  all  life's  eternity ; 

Which,  as  I  have  pondered,  is 

The  knowledge  of  God's  greatnesses : 

Light  of  One,  and  shine  of  Three, 

Unto  whom  all  things  that  be 

Flow  and  tend ! 

Many  of  these  personal  poems  of  Gregory  have 
been  published  under  the  title  of  "  Songs  of  the 
Swan." 

The  epistolary  poems  are  seven  in  number,  the 
three  addressed  to  Hellenius,  to  Olympiade,  and 
to  Nemesius,  being  especially  remarkable  for  their 
beauty. 

The  extant  epitaphs  number  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine.  They  always  express  some  profound- 
ly moral  and  Christian  thought,  and  many  of  them 
have  been  called  petits  chefs-d'oeuv7'e  of  grace  and 
sentiment. 

We  have  ninety-four  short  poems  classed  as  epi- 
grams, though  not  all  of  them  would  conform  to 
the  strict  requirements  of  that  title.  Many  of  them 
are  directed  against  sins  prevailing  among  the 
clergy.  They  are  thought  to  have  been  mostly 
written  in  the  author's  early  life. 


GREGORY    NYSSA. 

Of  the  three  great  Cappadocians,  the  most  vig- 
orous and  original  thinker  was  Gregory  Nyssa. 
Strikingly  akin  to  Origen  in  the  freedom  and  often 
in  the  fancifulness  of  his  thinking,  he  yet  was  a 
recognized  champion  of  the  trinitarian  doctrine, 
and  contributed  largely,  perhaps  more  than  any 
other  one  father,  toward  the  logical  completion  of 
the  Nicene  Confession  by  the  Council  of  Constan- 


GREGORY  NYSSA.  133 

tinople.  In  spite  of  certain  Origenistic  opinions, 
which  were  afterward  repudiated  by  the  Church — 
for  example,  his  belief  in  the  ultimate  reclamation 
of  the  wicked — he  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  his 
contemporaries  in  the  orthodox  body,  and  by  an 
oecumenical  council  of  the  next  century  he  was 
referred  to  as  "  a  father  of  fathers."  Born  about 
A.  D.  331,  and  early  connected  with  the  church,  he 
did  not,  like  his  brother  Basil,  abjure  the  world. 
He  was  married,  and  followed  the  profession  of 
rhetoric.  At  the  age  of  fifty,  however,  he  was  in- 
duced by  Basil  to  enter  the  ministry,  and  was  by 
him  named  to  the  bishopric  of  Nyssa.  His  zeal 
and  ability  in  the  defense  of  the  Nicene  faith  soon 
made  him  obnoxious  to  the  Arian  authorities  who 
were  then  dominant,  and  in  the  year  375  he  was 
driven  into  exile,  to  be  restored,  however,  by  the 
proclamation  of  Gratian,  a.  d.  378.  Among  other 
honors  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople, he  was  commissioned  to  visit  and  in- 
spect the  churches  of  Arabia.  In  connection  with 
this  journey  he  visited  Jerusalem,  and  made  obser- 
vations which  led  him  to  write  in  disapproval  of 
pilgrimages  to  that  city.  He  was  present  at  a  syn- 
od held  in  Constantinople,  a.  d.  394,  but  how  long 
he  lived  afterward  is  not  known.  His  more  note- 
worthy writings  are  here  described.  Some  of  the 
extracts  are  from  portions  of  his  works  which  a 
late  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  said  were  inter- 
polated ;  but,  as  they  are  characteristic  passages, 
whose  sentiments  are  interwoven  with  Gregory's 
whole  teaching,  they  should  not  be  sacrificed,  out 
of  consideration  for  his  orthodoxy. 
12 


134  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

THE   CATECHETICAL   DISCOURSE. 

This  work  is  in  forty  chapters,  preceded  by  a 
preface,  which  shows  that  the  argument  for  Chris- 
tianity must  be  adapted  to  its  hearers.  In  oppos- 
ing severally  pagans,  Jews,  and  heretics,  we  must 
meet  them  on  common  ground.  To  an  atheist  we 
prove  the  existence  of  God  by  the  creation.  A 
Jew  must  be  led  to  understand  the  Scriptures  by 
comparing  them  with  reason,  and  may  then  be 
shown  the  existence  of  the  Divine  Word  from 
Scripture  testimony.  Chapters  one  to  thirteen  are 
devoted  to  proving  the  divinity  of  the  Son  and  the 
Spirit,  and  the  next  fifteen  chapters  treat  of  the  in- 
carnation. We  reason  to  the  incarnation  from  the 
fact  that  man,  who  had  fallen  into  sin  by  his  own 
fault,  could  only  be  raised  up  again  by  his  Creator  ; 
hence  came  the  Divine  Word.  It  was  not  unwor- 
thy of  God  thus  to  be  born  and  die,  nor  did  the 
divinity  thereby  lose  its  divine  perfection.  Such  a 
union  of  the  divine  and  human  is  no  more  incom- 
prehensible than  the  union  of  soul  and  body.  That 
Christ  was  divine  is  proved  by  his  miracles.  He 
became  man  out  of  good-will  to  men,  such  incarna- 
tion being  the  most  natural  remedy  for  our  miser- 
ies, and  something  agreeable  to  the  goodness  and 
the  justice  of  God.  Chapter  twenty-nine  propounds 
the  question  why  sin  was  not  checked  in  its  incipi- 
ency,  and  answers  it  by  declaring  that  sin  needed 
to  work  itself  out  in  all  the  forms  which  it  shows  in 
history,  in  order  that  the  healing  might  extend  to 
the  utmost  limit  of  the  disease.  Next  is  discussed 
the  fact  that  only  a  limited  number  receive  the 
grace  of  faith.  If  it  were  true  that  we  held  that 
faith  is  apportioned  by  the  divine  will,  then  one 
might  rightly  object  to  this  mystery ;  but,  since  the 
calling  is  made  alike  to  all  men,  God  must  not  be 
accused  because  the  Word  does  not  gain  the  mas- 


GREGORY  NYSSA.  135 

tery  over  all.  In  calling  men  to  faith,  God  does  not 
take  away  their  liberty ;  that  is  why  many  of  them 
still  perish.  Christ  needed  to  die,  that  he  might 
become  wholly  like  us,  and  that  by  rising  again  he 
might  prove  our  resurrection. 

Passing  on  to  the  Christian  ordinances,  chapters 
thirty-three  to  thirty-six  treat  of  baptism.  In  this 
rite  three  things  conduce  to  the  immortal  life — 
prayer,  water,  faith.  In  the  triple  burial  in  the 
water  is  imitated  our  Lord's  death  of  three  days* 
duration.  It  is  the  divine  virtue  accompanying 
the  rite  which  effects  the  transformation.  Without 
this  sacrament  no  one  can  be  washed  from  sin» 
because  only  by  it  can  the  divine  virtues  be  made 
effectual  for  us.  Those  who  are  not  thus  purged 
must  be  purged  by  fire.*  [Here,  as  in  chapter 
eight,  the  Origenistic  doctrine  of  restoration  is 
made  prominent.] 

But  man  is  of  a  double  nature,  is  soul  and  body, 
and,  while  the  soul  may  attain  to  salvation  by  faith, 
the  body  must  come  to  it  in  another  way.  The 
body  can  be  immortal  only  as,  by  communion 
with  the  immortal,  it  becomes  a  partaker  of  in- 
corruption.  This  it  does  in  receiving  the  Lord's 
body.^  "We  must  consider  how  it  can  be  that 
that  one  body  distributed  evermore  to  so  many 
thousands  of  believers  throughout  the  world  is 
w^holly  in  each  one  by  a  part,  and  remains  entire 
in  itself." 

Spiritual  regeneration  has  this  peculiarity,  that 
he  who  is  thus  born  knows  from  whom  he  is  born 
and  unto  what  life ;  for  in  this  kind  of  birth  it  de- 
pends upon  man  what  he  will  become.  But  this 
regeneration  is  unprofitable  if,  after  receiving  the 
sacraments,  one  continues  in  sin.  "  Dost  thou  not 
know  that  man  does  not  otherwise  become  a  child 
of  God  but  by  becoming  holy  t  " 


136  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Extracts. 

1.  "  [God]  willed  that  which  should  happen,  and 
has  not  restrained  free-will;  so  that  he  perhaps  willed 
that  man  should  swerve  from  the  good,  since  he 
foreknew  all  and  saw  the  future  alike  with  the  past. 
But,  as  he  saw  his  aberration,  he  also  reflected  how 
he  could  turn  him  back  again  to  the  good." — Chap- 
ter 8.  "  For  not  all  who  through  the  resurrection 
return  again  into  being  attain  to  the  same  life,  but 
there  is  a  great  difference  between  those  who  are 
purified  and  those  who  lack  purification.  Those 
who  in  this  life  have  been  cleansed  through  the 
bath  of  regeneration  attain  to  a  condition  suited  to 
them ;  purity  corresponds  to  freedom  from  suffer- 
ing, but  at  all  events  there  is  freedom  from  suffer- 
ing. But  those  in  whom  passion  has  been  arrested, 
and  who  have  not  shared  in  the  cleansing  from  pol- 
lution, nor  in  the  mysterious  knowledge  [gained  in 
baptism],  nor  in  the  invoking  of  the  divine  power, 
nor  in  the  improvement  through  repentance,  must 
also  attain  to  a  condition  suited  to  them — the  melt- 
ing-pot is  suited  to  unrefined  gold — that  the  sins 
clinging  to  them  may  be,  so  to  speak,  melted  out, 
and,  after  many  centuries,  a  pure  nature  and  God 
may  be  attained.  Fire  and  water  possess  a  purify- 
ing power.  Therefore  they  who  have  been  purified 
from  the  filth  of  sin  through  the  mysterious  water 
need  not  the  other  kind  of  purification.  But  those 
who  have  not  shared  in  that  purification  must  neces- 
sarily be  cleansed  by  fire." — Chapter  xxxv. 

2.  "  The  body  [of  Christ]  was  through  the  in- 
dwelling of  the  Word  of  God  raised  to  a  divine 
dignity.  Rightly,  therefore,  do  I  now  believe  that 
bread  sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God  is  transmuted 
into  the  body  of  the  Word  of  God.  For  that  body 
was  virtually  bread.  It  was,  however,  sanctified  by 
the  indwelling  of  the  Word,  which  dwelt  in  the 
flesh.     Therefore,  as   in  that  body  the  transmuted 


GREGORY  NYSSA.  137 

bread  passed  over  into  divine  virtue,  so  now  it  is 
the  same.  There  the  grace  of  the  Word  made  holy 
the  body,  the  substance  of  which  was  from  bread, 
and  which  in  a  certain  sense  was  itself  bread. 
Here  likewise  the  bread,  as  says  the  apostle,  is 
sanctified  by  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer;  not  be- 
coming the  body  of  the  Word  through  the  eating 
and  drinking,  but  being  immediately  changed  into 
the  body  of  the  Word,  as  was  said  by  the  Word, 
'  This  is  my  body.'  " — Cap.  xxxvii. 

ON    THE    SOUL    AND    THE    RESURRECTION.. 

This  is  a  dialogue  between  Gregory  and  his  sis- 
ter, called  forth  by  the  recent  death  of  their  brother 
Basil.  In  it  Macrina  urges  upon  Gregory  the  aban- 
donment of  heathen  philosophizing  over  the  nature 
of  the  soul,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  Christian 
teaching.  He  endeavors  to  show  the  concurrence 
of  reason  with  such  teaching.  "  My  opinion,"  he 
says,  "  is  this :  The  soul  is  an  active,  living,  spirit- 
ual essence,  which  confers  upon  the  organized  body, 
which  perceives  through  its  senses,  power  to  live 
and  to  observe  those  things  known  by  the  senses  so 
long  as  its  nature  is  capable  thereof."  The  soul  is 
immortal,  and  in  the  future  life  will  recognize  the 
elements  of  its  body  scattered  at  death,  and  will  re- 
assume  them.  This  last  is  illustrated  by  supposing 
that  many  vessels  of  clay  of  various  sorts,  bowls, 
pitchers,  etc.,  are  broken  into  fragments ;  the  owners 
of  these,  it  is  claimed,  will  be  able  to  distinguish  the 
fragments  of  the  several  vessels  from  one  another 
and  from  fragments  of  the  unmolded  clay.  The 
story  of  the  rich  man  and  Lazarus*  is  shown  to 
have  a  figurative  and  spiritual  meaning.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  transmigration  of  souls,  also,  is  dis- 
cussed and  refuted. 

Extract. 

"  The  teaching  [of  the  gospel  concerning  hades] 


138  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

is  indeed  wrapped  up  to  some  degree  in  material 
expressions,  yet  most  men  who  inquire  carefully 
are  led  by  these  to  a  spiritual  understanding. 
When  the  Lord  speaks  of  a  great  gulf  which  sepa- 
rates the  bad  from  the  good,  and  leaves  the  rich 
man  in  hell  to  long  for  a  drop  of  water  reached 
forth  with  the  finger,  and  gives  to  him  who  had  been 
miserable  in  this  life  the  bosom  of  Abraham  for  a 
resting-place,  he  has  already  spoken  of  their  death 
and  burial ;  so  that,  for  him  who  reads  the  Word 
with  understanding,  this  points  to  another  than  the 
apparent  meaning.  What  kind  of  eyes  are  they 
which  the  rich  man  lifted  up  in  hell,  when  he  had 
already  left  his  bodily  eyes  in  the  grave  .^  How 
could  he  who  is  without  a  body  feel  the  flames } 
What  kind  of  tongue  is  that  which  he  wished  to 
have  cooled  by  a  drop  of  water  when  he  now  had 
no  corporeal  tongue  }  What  finger  was  to  bring  him 
the  drop }  And  what  means  the  bosom  in  which 
the  poor  man  rested  .?  The  bodies  are  in  the  grave, 
but  souls  are  neither  corporeal  nor  have  they  parts ; 
consequently  the  account  cannot  be  true  if  we  must 
interpret  all  literally.  We  must  thus  understand  all 
figuratively,  and  by  the  gulf  which  separates  the 
two  places  must  not  conceive  of  an  earthly  distance; 
for  what  difficulty  were  it  for  a  spiritual  and  incor- 
poreal being  to  fly  through  never  so  large  a  space, 
when  a  spiritual  being  can  transport  itself  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  whithersoever  it  will .''  " — Soul 
and  Resurrectio7i. 

AGAINST    EUNOMIUS. 

This  was  not  only  the  most  elaborate  treatise  by 
Gregory,  but  was  accounted  one  of  the  chief  books 
of  the  age  in  defense  of  the  consubstantiality  of 
the  Son  and  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is 
in  twelve  books,  in  the  first  of  which  Gregory  de- 
fends Basil  against  calumnies  brought  against  him 


GREGORY  NYSSA,  139 

by  Eunomius  in  the  latter's  reply  to  Basil.  The 
faith  of  Christians,  it  is  asserted,  comes  to  them, 
not  from  men  but  from  Jesus  Christ  the  Word  of 
God,  in  person  and  through  his  apostles.  It  can 
not  be  changed  or  added  to.  Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit  are  co-ordinate,  each  with  each  other, 
the  one  God  of  our  faith.  The  leading  aspect  in 
which  the  person  of  the  Son  is  presented  and  de- 
fended is  as  the  Only-begotten.  The  work  main- 
tains his  consubstantiality  with  the  Father,  the  full- 
ness of  his  divinity,  the  eternity  of  his  generation 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  his  distinctive  charac- 
ter as  Mediator,  and  the  beneficence  of  his  medi- 
atorial work.  The  divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
also  proved,  as  against  the  assertion  of  Eunomius 
that  he  is  the  first  creative  and  supreme  work  of  the 
Son.  The  argument  adduces  the  common  des- 
ignation of  Father,  Son,  and  Spirit  as  "holy"; 
shows  that  the  Spirit's  work  as  Comforter  is  also 
ascribed  to  both  Father  and  Son ;  cites  the  Lord's 
declaration  (John,  xv,  26)  that  the  Spirit  proceeds 
from  the  Father — which  is  said  by  the  Lord  of  no 
created  being;  points  out  the  office  of  the  Spirit  in 
the  birth  of  the  children  of  God ;  shows  that  the 
Lord,  whom  Isaiah  saw  "  high  and  lifted  up,"  is  by 
Paul  (Acts,  xxviii,  25)  called  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
quotes  the  Lord's  words  (John,  iii,  8)  as  proving 
him  to  be  free,  not  subject,  as  Eunomius  had  said, 
to  the  Son ;  and  shows  that  the  Spirit  has  ascribed 
to  him  all  the  attributes  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,* 
and  that  he  performs  works  ascribed  to  God. 
Gregory  makes  use  of  abstract  reasoning,  argu- 
ments from  nature,  and  expositions  of  Scripture 
passages  which  Eunomius  had  interpreted  falsely. 
Among  other  calumnies  which  he  charges  upon 
Eunomius  is  his  assertion  that  his  opponents  make 
Christ  a  mere  man  ;  whereas  Gregory  affirms  that 
the   Only-begotten   Son  of   God   assumed  human 


I40  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

flesh,  and,  becoming  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  suffered  and  died  as  a  man,  but  as  God  was 
impassible  and  incorruptible.  He  disposes  of  such 
passages  as  Acts,  ii,  36,  by  showing  that  Christ  was 
not  "  made  "  as  to  his  essence.  This  he  does  by- 
citing  the  declaration  that  Christ  was  made  sin  for 
us.  The  name  Lord  refers  to  the  dignity,  not  to 
the  essence,  of  Christ.  The  true  name  of  the  divine 
essence  is  unknown  to  men.  The  Son  is  to  the 
Father  as  the  brightness  is  to  the  flame,  as  the 
faculty  of  seeing  is  to  the  eye.  There  are  many 
kinds  of  generation,  but  the  generation  of  the  Son 
was  unique  ;  for  that  reason  he  is  called  ^lovoyevriq. 
Not  God  the  Father  alone,  but  also  the  Son,  is  good. 
It  was  through  his  benignity  and  goodness  that  he 
formed,  and,  by  his  cross  and  death,  reformed  man. 
Eunomius  has  made  use  of  Egyptian  fables  against 
Christian  doctrine.  He  has  also,  by  making  the 
work  of  Christ  a  necessity  instead  of  his  free  act, 
robbed  him  of  his  claim  upon  the  gratitude  of  men. 

Extract. 
"  If  the  life-giving  power  which  is  in  the  Father 
and  the  Son  is  shown  also  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  ac- 
cording to  the  declaration  of  the  gospel;  if  he  is 
incorruptible  and  unchangeable,  permitting  no  evil; 
if  he  is  good,  and  right,  and  commanding,  and 
works  all  in  all  as  he  wishes ;  if  we  may  see  all  such 
things  to  be  the  same  in  Father  and  Son  and  Holy 
Spirit — how  is  it  possible  through  this  identity  to 
discern  diversity  of  nature  .?  " — Book  II,  14. 

ON    THE    CREATION    OF    MAN. 

The  thirty  chapters  of  this  treatise  handle  such 
questions  as  the  creation  of  the  world,  the  forma- 
tion of  man,  and  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  soul. 
The  soul,  it  is  held,  is  a  spirit,  and  is  equally  in  all 
parts  of  the  body;  it  has  no  pre-existence,  but 
comes   into   being  at   the  same  moment  with   the 


GREGORY  NYSSA.  141 

body.  That  creation  in  God's  image  allows  of  cer- 
tain differences  between  the  human  and  the  divine 
is  set  forth  in  the  following  extract : 

Extract. 

"  God  has  made  human  nature  participant  in 
every  good.  For,  since  God  is  the  fullness  of  per- 
fection and  man  is  his  image,  the  likeness  of  the 
image  to  the  original  must  consist  in  its  possession 
of  perfection.  Therefore,  we  have  every  kind  of 
beauty,  all  virtue  and  wisdom,  and  everything  which 
makes  perfect.  It  is  one  of  these  perfections,  too, 
that  man  is  free  and  is  controlled  by  no  physical 
force  and  chooses  whatsoever  he  will.  Virtue  is 
thus  something  free  and  voluntary;  what  is  forced 
can  not  be  virtue.  If,  then,  the  image  which  in 
every  feature  approaches  the  original  were  not  in 
some  respect  different  from  it,  manifestly  it  would 
not  be  a  likeness,  but  a  complete  identity.  What 
difference,  now,  do  we  know  between  God  and  man 
created  like  unto  God  ?  God  is  uncreated,  man  is 
created.  Out  of  this  difference  there  proceeds 
another:  It  is  conceded  by  all  that  the  uncreated 
Being  is  also  unchangeable,  and  is  evermore  like 
himself;  but  the  creature  can  not  remain  without 
change.  .  .  .  God,  now,  who  foreknows  all  things, 
perceived  by  his  foreknowledge  how  man  with  his 
free-will  would  decide — for  he  foresaw  the  future — 
and  therefore  he  established  in  his  image  the  differ- 
ence between  male  and  female." — Chapter  16.  .  .  . 
"  God  foresaw  in  his  omniscience  that  man  would 
not  remain  inclined  to  the  good,  and  would  there- 
fore lose  the  angel-like  life.  [The  angels,  it  has 
been  shown,  increase  without  marriage.]  Since, 
then,  the  multitude  of  human  souls,  by  that  kind  of 
increase  by  which  the  angels  multiply,  would, 
through  sin,  remain  incomplete,  he  made  our  nat- 
ure suitable  for  that  kind  of  increase  which  would 


142  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

be  appropriate  to  us  after  we  had  fallen  into  sin." 
— Chapter  17. 

Principal  Works. 
Dogmatic  :  The  "  Oratio  Catechetica  Mag^na  "  ;  "  On 
the  Formation  of  Man  "  ;  the  "  Hex^meron,"  a  work  ex- 
plaining- the  order  of  creation  as  related  in  Genesis  ;  "  On 
the  Soul,"  addressed  to  Tatian ;  "  On  the  Soul  and  the 
Resurrection  " ;  "  On  Faith,"  against  the  Arians ;  tract 
"  Against  Fate  "  ;  "  To  Ablavius,"  against  Tritheists  ; 
twelve  books  "  Against  Eunomius  "  ;  "  Of  Great  Abra- 
ham," on  the  divinity  of  the  Son  and  Spirit ;  "  Of  the  Un- 
timely Death  of  Infants " ;  "  Treatise  of  Common  No- 
tions," addressed  to  the  Greeks  and  explaining  the  terms 
used  with  reference  to  the  Trinity ;  "  Ten  Syllogisms " 
against  the  Manichaeans  ;  two  tracts  against  the  Apolli- 
narians.  AsCETic  and  Practical  :  "  On  Virginity  "  ; 
the  "  Life  of  Moses,"  a  treatise  concerning  the  perfect  life, 
abounding  in  allegorical  interpretation  ;  "  On  Pilgrimages 
to  Jerusalem,"  dissuading  from  such  pilgrimages,  on  ac- 
count of  the  corruption  attending  them,  and  remarking 
that  "  change  of  place  does  not  cause  the  nearer  approach 
of  God"  ;  the  so-called  "Canonical  Epistle,"  laying  down 
rules  of  penance.  Exegetical  and  Homiletical  : 
"  On  the  Inscriptions  of  the  Psalms,"  "  On  the  Sixth 
Psalm,"  "On  the  First  Three  Chapters  of  Ecclesiastes," 
"  On  the  Canticles,"  "  On  the  Lord's  Prayer,"  and  "  On 
the  Beatitudes  "  ;  various  sermons,  among  them  a  notice- 
able one  on  i  Cor.  xv,  28,  in  which  the  author's  peculiar 
views  as  to  the  future  are  advanced.  Panegyrics  :  On 
the  martyr  Stephen,  the  martyr  Theodore,  the  Forty  Mar- 
tyrs, Gregory  Thaumaturgus.  the  Empress  Placilla,  Ephra- 
em  Syrus,  Basil,  Melitius. 


DIDYMUS. 
DiDYMUS  the  Blind  was  the  most  distinguished 
successor  of  Origen  in  the  catechetical  School  of 
Alexandria,  and  the  last  before  the  school  sank 
into  obscurity.  Though  blind  from  his  fifth  year,  he 
yet  became  one  of  the  most  famous  scholars  of  his 
age.     He  acknowledged  Origen  as  his  master,  and 


EPIPHANIUS.  143 

wrote  an  interpretation  and  defense  of  his  "  Prin- 
ciples." That,  notwithstanding  this,  he  was  visited 
by  Jerome,  and  acknowledged  by  him  as  his  master, 
is  the  highest  possible  testimony  to  his  rank  as  a 
scholar  and  his  pre-eminence  as  a  theologian  and 
expounder  of  Scripture.  His  life  nearly  covered 
the  fourth  century,  his  death,  at  an  advanced  age, 
occurring  a.  d.  394  or  399.  Jerome  gives  a  long 
catalogue  of  works  by  Didymus,  but  we  have  left 
only  (i)  a  Latin  translation  by  Jerome  of  a  work 
on  the  Holy  Spirit,  (2)  a  Latin  translation  of  Notes 
on  all  the  Canonical  Epistles,  and  (3)  a  book  against 
the  Manichaeans  in  the  original. 

The  work  on  the  Holy  Spirit  was  declared  by 
Jerome  to  be  the  source  from  which  the  Latin  writ- 
ers drew  all  that  they  wrote  upon  this  subject.  It 
is  a  methodical  and  exhaustive  treatise,  proving  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  a  name  or  a  property,  and  not 
a  creature,  but  a  real  existence,  of  the  same  nature 
as  the  Father  and  the  Son. 


EPIPHANIUS. 

Learning  and  credulity  are  seldom  attendants 
upon  the  same  man  through  a  long  life,  but  they 
were  united  in  the  service  of  Epiphanius.  Born 
about  A.  D.  310,  in  Palestine,  he  was  a  student  from 
his  youth,  and  acquired  a  considerable  command  of 
languages  and  of  pious  learning.  He  became  de- 
voted to  an  ascetic  life  from  an  early  residence  in 
Egypt,  and  continued  in  this  habit  after  returning 
to  Palestine,  becoming  finally  president  of  a  monas- 


144  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

tery.  In  367  he  was  nominated  Bishop  of  Salamis 
in  Cyprus.  His  zeal  was  not  limited  to  the  defense 
of  the  orthodox  faith ;  he  must  needs  root  out,  so 
far  as  he  was  able,  every  heresy.  In  this  interest  it 
was  that  he  wrote  the  work  against  heresies  by 
which  he  is  now  best  known.  Had  this  been  his 
only  method  of  opposing  error,  he  might  have  been 
remembered  by  the  Church  with  no  other  than  a 
kindly  regard  ;  but  he  had  conceived  such  a  dislike 
to  Origen,  and  all  who  advocated  any  of  his  doc- 
trines, that  he  entered  into  a  virulent  quarrel  upon 
this  subject,  first  with  John  of  Jerusalem  and  then 
with  Chrysostom.  In  the  latter  affair,  which  oc- 
curred toward  the  close  of  his  life,  the  old  man 
allowed  himself  to  be  made  a  tool  by  Theophilus, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who,  jealous  of  the  Bishop  of 
Constantinople,  had  craftily  affixed  the  red  rag  of 
heresy  to  him  and  sent  the  credulous  saint  stamp- 
ing and  roaring  into  the  very  precincts  of  the  im- 
perial court.  Coming  to  Constantinople,  Epipha- 
nius  was  very  bitter,  and  eager  to  denounce  Chrys- 
ostom in  his  own  church;  but,  upon  further  confer- 
ence with  certain  Origenistic  monks  from  Egypt, 
he  found  that  he  was  quarreling  with  good  men  in 
the  interests  of  a  selfish  prelate,  and  sadly  he  set 
out  for  his  home.  He  died,  as  it  is  supposed,  be- 
fore reaching  Salamis,  about  a.  d.  402. 

His  works  are  characterized  by  strange  crudities 
of  beliefs,  no  father  having  given  currency  to  more 
improbable  and  absurd  legends.  We  have  from 
him,  besides  his  work  against  heresies,  and  an 
abridgment  of  the  same,  "The  Anchoratus,"  or 
ail  epitome   of   the  Christian  faith,  a  treatise  on 


EPIPHANIUS.  147 

longer  the  opportunity,  and  those  who  have  been 
conquered  have  been  rejected.  For  all  things  are 
complete  and  perfect  when  we  go  out  from  this 
life!" — Haer.  59. 

On  the  Several  Orders  of  the  Clergy. 

"  Or  how  can  a  presbyter  be  called  equal  to  a 
bishop  ?  Truly  some  excessive  boldness  or  ambi- 
tion has  deceived  this  Aerius.  For  that  he  may  de- 
ceive as  well  himself  as  his  hearers,  he  makes  this 
objection :  The  apostle  writes  of  presbyters  and 
deacons  [i.  e.,  as  embracing  the  entire  clergy],  not 
of  bishops.  Also,  addressing  a  bishop,  he  says, 
*  Neglect  not  the  gift  that  is  in  thee,  which  thou  re- 
ceivedst  through  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
presbytery.*  Then  in  another  place  [he  says]  '  bish- 
ops and  deacons,'  so  that  bishop  seems  to  be  the 
same  as  presbyter.  But  this  man  being  surely  ig- 
norant of  the  lineage  of  the  truth,  and  not  versed 
in  its  more  recondite  history,  does  not  understand 
that  the  apostle,  while  the  teaching  of  Christian 
truth  was  yet  recent,  wrote  according  to  the  circum- 
stances ;  for  when  now  bishops  had  been  consti- 
tuted, he  wrote  to  bishops  and  deacons.  For  fre- 
quently the  apostles  were  not  able  to  administer  all 
things.  And  the  work  was  indeed,  at  the  first,  in- 
trusted to  presbyters  and  deacons,  by  both  of  whom 
ecclesiastical  affairs  are  truly  able  to  be  adminis- 
tered. Wherefore,  when  as  yet  no  one  appeared 
worthy  of  the  episcopate,  no  one  was  made  a  bish- 
op in  that  place.  Yet  when  necessity  required, 
and  there  was  no  lack  of  those  who  were  worthy  of 
the  episcopate,  then  bishops  were  constituted.  But 
where  there  was  not  a  great  multitude,  none  could 
be  found  who  might  be  made  presbyters ;  where- 
fore they  were  limited  to  a  bishop  only.  Still,  there 
can  be  no  bishop  without  a  deacon.  Wherefore,  the 
apostle  took  care  that,  for  the  giving  of  thanks,  dea- 


148  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

cons  should  be  present  with  the  bishop.  Therefore 
while  as  yet  the  Church  could  not  be  completed  in 
all  its  functions,  during  that  time  a  status  arose 
suited  to  the  several  places.  Nor,  indeed,  is  there 
anything  which,  from  its  beginning,  has  been  com- 
plete in  all  its  parts;  but  as  time  passes,  with  all  its 
opportunities,  the  arrival  at  perfection  at  last  oc- 
curs."— Haer.  75. 

On  the  Use  of  Images  in  Churches. 

On  a  visit  to  Palestine,  Epiphanius's  zeal  against 
error  had  led  him  to  a  violent  act,  of  which  he 
speaks  as  follows  :  "When  I  entered  into  the  church 
of  a  village  of  Palestine  called  Anablatha,  I  found 
there  a  curtain  hanging  over  the  door  whereon  was 
painted  an  image  like  that  of  Jesus  Christ  or  some 
saint — for  I  do  not  remember  whose  picture  it  was. 
But  seeing  in  the  church  of  Christ  the  image  of  a 
man,  contrary  to  the  authority  of  holy  Scripture,  I 
tore  it  down  and  gave  order  to  the  church-warden 
to  bury  some  dead  body  in  this  curtain,  and  when 
they  answered  me  in  a  murmuring  way  that  if  I 
would  tear  this  curtain  I  should  give  them  another, 
I  promised  to  do  it,  and  now  I  perform  my  prom- 
ise."— Letter  to  John  of  Jerusalem. 


DIODORUS    OF   TARSUS, 

The  father  of  Biblical  Interpretation.  The 
fourth  century  seems  a  late  period  to  acquire  this 
title,  but  previous  to  this  time  the  Alexandrian  alle- 
gorical methods  of  inteq^retation  had  so  vitiated 
the  results  of  biblical  study  that  there  was  no  true 
science  of  interpretation.  Diodorus  was  a  priest 
and   monk  of  Antioch,  where,   in   the  absence  of 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  149 

Meletius,  he  managed  the  affairs  of  the  church  so 
discreetly  that  in  the  year  375  he  was  made  bish- 
op of  Tarsus.  Meantime  he  had  been  laying  the 
foundations  of  biblical  hermeneutics  by  the  prepa- 
ration of  numerous  commentaries,  in  which  alle- 
gory gave  place  to  a  literal  and  grammatical  inter- 
pretation, and  by  his  training  of  two  pupils,  John 
[Chrysostom]  and  Theodore  [of  Mopsuestia],  who 
were  to  become  so  distinguished  in  the  Church,  and 
to  contribute  so  largely  to  a  clear  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures.  Diodorus's  works,  which  were  largely 
biblical,  are  all  lost,  owing  probably  to  the  senseless 
prejudice  which  at  a  later  age  arose  against  him 
because  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  had  been  one  of 
his  pupils  !  He  deserves,  however,  to  be  cherished 
in  our  memory  as  among  the  great  writers  of  the 
early  Church. 


CHRYSOSTOM, 

The  Preacher.  His  name  was  John,  the  sur- 
name of  the  Golden-Mouth  having  been  given  him 
after  his  death.  He  was  born  of  a  noble  family,  at 
Antioch,  about  347.  His  mother,  Arethusa,  who  was 
early  left  a  widow,  gave  him  the  first  masters  of  the 
age,  but  took  care  that  the  arts  of  the  great  rheto- 
rician Libanius  should  not  win  him  to  heathenism. 
Having  at  first  inclined  to  the  law,  he  gave  up  this 
profession,  and  put  himself  under  the  care  of  Dio- 
dorus  for  the  study  of  the  Scriptures.  After  his 
baptism  he  spent  six  years  in  the  desert,  in  ascetic 
exercise  and  study.  Driven  to  the  city  by  his  deli- 
cate health,  he  was  ordained  deacon  by  Mleetius 


I50  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

and  afterward  presbyter  by  Flavianus.  The  larger 
part  of  his  active  career  was  passed  in  preaching  in 
the  church  at  Antioch,  where  he  gained  such  re- 
nown that  in  398  he  was  made  bishop  of  Constan- 
tinople. It  was  while  presbyter  at  Antioch  that  he 
first  preached  most  of  his  published  sermons,  among 
which  were  the  famous  discourses  On  the  Statues. 
While  in  retirement,  before  he  began  preaching,  as 
is  supposed,  he  had  written  his  work  on  the  Priest- 
hood. Into  his  new  sphere,  as  administrator  of 
the  archdiocese  of  Constantinople,  he  carried  the 
same  unworldly  principles  which  had  thus  far 
marked  his  life  and  preaching.  It  seems  not  to 
have  occurred  to  him  that  there  could  be  one 
standard  of  morals  for  humble  life  and  another  for 
ministers  and  princes.  In  the  midst  of  the  luxury 
and  profuseness  of  the  capital,  with  ample  reve- 
nues at  his  command,  he  maintained  his  own  sim- 
ple habits  of  living  and  laboring.  Instead  of  grac- 
ing the  court  with  ecclesiastical  retinues,  soothing 
princes  and  ministers  with  delicate  flatteries,  and 
entertaining  idle  prelates  at  a  bountiful  table,  he 
gave  himself  to  the  preaching  of  righteousness,  the 
rebuking  of  sins,  whether  of  senator  or  shop-man, 
the  building  of  hospitals,  the  establishment  of  mis- 
sions among  the  Scythians,  the  reform  of  abuses 
among  the  bishops  and  clergy  under  his  care,  and 
the  casting  of  contempt  upon  the  crowds  of  idle 
monks  who  hung  upon  the  skirts  of  the  court.  He 
was  more  zealous  in  the  establishment  of  holy 
shrines,  and  the  conduct  of  toilsome  processions  in 
honor  of  the  saints,  than  in  the  politic  apportion- 
ment of  the  emoluments  in  his  gift.     This  course 


CHRY so  STOAT.  151 

was  not  calculated  to  attach  to  him  the  powers  that 
were.  Supported  enthusiastically  for  a  time  by  the 
empress,  she  afterward  turned  against  him,  and  to 
accomplish  his  overthrow  she  summoned  to  Con- 
stantinople his  bitterest  enemy,  Theophilus,  Bishop 
of  Alexandria.  A  pretext  for  a  charge  of  Origen- 
ism  had  been  afforded  by  Chrysostom,  in  the  kindly 
reception  which  he  had  given  to  four  monks  who 
had  been  driven  from  Egypt  by  Theophilus  because 
they  would  not  subscribe  a  condemnation  of  Ori- 
gen.  Aided  by  the  court,  Theophilus  convened  a 
synod  at  Chalcedon,  which,  overriding  all  semblance 
of  law  or  justice,  decreed  Chrysostom's  deposition. 
He  was  at  once  arrested  and  taken  to  Nicaea.  The 
storm  raised  by  the  populace,  who  idolized  him, 
soon  compelled  his  recall,  but  it  was  only  for  a  brief 
season.  He  knew  no  other  aim  of  preaching  but 
to  denounce  sin  and  win  to  righteousness,  and  the 
sins  of  the  court  could  not  escape  him.  Certain 
profane  honors  which  had  been  paid  to  a  statue 
erected  to  the  Empress  had  also  been  denounced 
by  him,  and  the  report  was  spread  abroad  that  he 
had  begun  a  discourse  with  the  words,  "  Herodias 
is  again  furious ;  Herodias  again  dances ;  she  once 
more  demands  the  head  of  John."  Though  this 
report  was  not  true,  the  hostility  of  the  Empress 
was  so  aroused  that  another  council  was  convened, 
which,  on  the  pretext  that  he  had  reassumed  his 
office  without  a  regular  restoration,  confirmed  anew 
his  deposition.  He  was  exiled  now  to  Cucusus,  in 
the  Taurus  Mountains.  In  this  solitude,  besides 
carrying  on  a  correspondence  with  bishops.  East 
and   West,  he   continued  to  prosecute  missionary 


152  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

work,  sending  out  preachers  among  Goths  and  Per- 
sians, and  to  care  for  churches  in  Armenia  and 
Phoenicia.  But  such  activity  was  not  to  the  minds 
of  his  enemies,  who  persuaded  the  Emperor  to  order 
his  transportation  to  Pityus  on  the  Euxine.  He 
never  reached  this  place,  for  on  the  journey  thither, 
worn  out  with  fatigue  and  illness,  he  died,  at  Co- 
mana  in  Pontus,  a.  d.  ,^7.  His  exile  had  led  to  a 
schism  of  his  more  devoted  followers,  who  were 
called  Johannists.  Thirty  years  after  his  death, 
however,  the  schism  was  healed  by  the  bringing 
back  of  his  relics  to  Constantinople,  and  the  act  of 
the  Emperor  Theodosius  II,  in  publicly  imploring 
the  forgiveness  of  God  for  his  ancestors'  sins  against 
the  saint. 

Unquestionably  the  greatest  preacher  of  the 
early  Church,  we  admire  in  Chrysostom  the  man 
above  the  preacher,  and  in  his  preaching  we  admire 
the  moral  above  the  intellectual.  It  was  an  age  to 
call  forth  such  a  preacher.  There  was  now  a  lull 
in  theological  controversy,  between  the  Councils  of 
Constantinople  and  Ephesus,  and  energies  which  in 
Athanasius  and  the  great  Cappadocians  had  been 
turned  to  the  overthrow  of  heresies  were  now  left 
free  for  the  attack  of  vice  and  corruption.  To  this 
sole  end  Chrysostom  directed  his  powers,  and  with 
such  success  that  people  wept  and  princes  trem- 
bled ; — his  reward  a  martyr's  crown,  unsullied  by 
being  sought,  and  unmarred  by  being  feared.  To 
understand  this  power  we  must  notice  both  how  he 
spoke  and  what  he  uttered.  Gregory  Nazianzen 
was  a  great  orator,  but  somehow  we  think  of  him 
as  posing  for  effect.     Chrysostom's  eloquence  was 


CHR  Y  SOS  TOM.  153 

the  natural  outflow  of  his  soul.  His  oratory  can 
not  better  be  characterized  than  in  these  words  of 
Cardinal  Newman :  "  Great  as  was  his  gift  of  ora- 
tory, it  was  not  by  the  fertility  of  his  imagination, 
or  the  splendor  of  his  diction,  that  he  gained  the 
surname  of  'Mouth  of  Gold.'  We  shall  be  very 
wrong  if  we  suppose  that  fine  expressions,  or  round- 
ed periods,  or  figures  of  speech,  were  the  creden- 
tials by  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  first  doctor  of 
the  East.  His  oratorical  power  was  but  the  instru- 
ment by  which  he  readily,  gracefully,  adequately 
expressed — expressed  without  effort  and  with  felici- 
ty— the  keen  feelings,  the  living  ideas,  the  earnest 
practical  lessons  which  he  had  to  communicate  to 
his  hearers.  He  spoke  because  his  heart,  his  head, 
were  brimful  of  things  to  speak  about.  His  elocu- 
tion corresponded  to  that  strength  and  flexibility  of 
limb,  that  quickness  of  eye,  hand,  and  foot,  by 
which  a  man  excels  in  manly  games  or  in  mechan- 
ical skill.  It  would  be  a  great  mistake,  in  speaking 
of  it,  to  ask  whether  it  was  Attic  or  Asiatic,  terse 
or  flowing,  when  its  distinctive  praise  was  that  it 
was  natural.  His  unrivaled  charm,  as  that  of  every 
really  eloquent  man,  lies  in  his  singleness  of  pur- 
pose, his  fixed  grasp  of  his  aim,  his  noble  earnest- 
ness." 

But  fervent  speech,  with  golden  tongue,  yet 
needed,  for  power,  an  authoritative  message.  This 
Chrysostom  always  found  in  the  Scriptures,  his 
masterly  use  of  which,  learned  from  Diodorus,  was 
far  more  to  him  than  all  the  arts  of  Libanius. 
Straightforward  and  practical  in  his  expositions, 
making   the    meaning   so   plain    that   the    simplest 


154  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

might  understand,  he  then  drove  home  the  truth 
with  the  authority  of  God,  and  summoned  men 
before  the  bar  of  the  Almighty  to  answer  for  their 
disobedience. 

Translations  of  many  of  the  homilies,  and  of 
the  treatise  on  the  Priesthood,  fortunately  make  this 
author  more  accessible  than  are  most  of  the  Greek 
fathers. 

HOMILIES. 

Under  this  head  may  be  included  the  greater 
part  of  Chrysostom's  voluminous  works.  The  hom- 
ilies examine  and  comment  upon  a  large  part  of 
the  Scriptures,  besides  treating  of  many  individual 
points  of  morals  and  doctrine. 

Hoinilies  upon  Entire  Books. 

Genesis. — The  sixty-seven  homilies  upon  this 
book  are  rather  of  the  nature  of  commentaries  than 
sermons.  They  interpret  the  text  literally,  their 
subjects  being  commonly  the  various  examples  of 
virtue  and  vice  contained  in  the  history.  The  style 
is  plain  in  comparison  with  that  of  most  of  Chrysos- 
tom's sermons.  In  addition  to  this  series  there  are 
extant  nine  other  homilies  upon  various  passages  in 
Genesis. 

Psalms. — These,  too,  are  of  the  hermeneutical 
order.  They  are  sixty  in  number  and  treat  upon 
nearly  half  of  the  psalter.  They  follow  the  Septua- 
gint  version,  but  make  frequent  references  to  the 
differences  of  ancient  versions,  and  sometimes  quote 
the  Hebrew  text.  Besides  these  plainer  homilies 
upon  the  text,  we  have  a  number  of  more  elab- 
orate discourses  upon  particular  passages  of  the 
Psalms. 

Matthew. — The  number  of  these  is  ninety. 
They  were  preached  at  Antioch,  and,  as  is  generally 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  155 

supposed,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry  there. 
Their  main  object  is  moral.  Their  plan  is  to  search 
out  the  meaning  and  application  of  particular  pas- 
sages, and  then  to  conclude  with  a  stirring  exhor- 
tation to  some  particular  virtue.  Some  of  the  most 
noteworthy  appeals  are  in  favor  of  alms-giving,  which 
virtue  was  given  a  very  exalted  estimate  by  Chrys- 
ostom.  He  also  opposes  the  theatres,  praises  the 
monks,  and  attacks  heresies,  particularly  the  Ano- 
mcean  and  Manichaean. 

In  the  fifty-fifth  homily  we  find  quoted  the  fol- 
lowing form  of  grace  before  meat  which  was  used 
in  one  of  the  monasteries  near  Antioch.  It  is  char- 
acteristic of  Chrysostom  that  he  commends  this 
particularly  for  its  ending,  because  it  puts  men  in 
mind  of  the  judgment,  at  a  time  when  they  are  too 
apt  to  become  dissipated. 

Extract. 

"  Blessed  God  who  feedest  me  from  my  youth 
up,  who  givest  food  to  all  flesh,  fill  our  hearts  with 
joy  and  gladness,  that  always  having  all-sufiiciency, 
we  may  abound  unto  every  good  work  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord :  with  whom  be  unto  Thee  glory, 
honor,  and  might,  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  forever. 
Amen.  Glory  to  Thee,  O  Lord,  glory  to  Thee,  O 
Holy  One,  glory  to  Thee,  O  King,  that  Thou  hast 
given  us  meat  to  make  us  glad.  Fill  us  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  that  we  may  be  found  well  pleasing 
before  Thee,  not  being  ashamed  when  Thou  ren- 
derest  to  every  man  according  to  his  works." — 
Horn.  Iv. 

John. — Eighty-seven  homilies  are  devoted  to 
the  fourth  Gospel.  Compared  with  those  on  Mat- 
thew, they  are  shorter  and  more  controversial. 
They  were  delivered  at  Antioch,  to  select  audiences, 
early  in  the  day.  The  doctrinal  arguments  are 
directed  chiefly  against  the  Anomoeans,  who  held 


156  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

that  the  Son  was  not  born  of  like  substance  with 
the  Father.  The  rhetorical  connection  of  the  senti- 
ments and  arguments  of  the  text  is  traced  with 
much  ingenuity.  Among  other  exhortations  is  urged 
(Hom.  xviii)  the  duty  of  Christians  to  be  able  to 
defend  their  faith  with  arguments.  As  in  all  his 
preaching,  Chrysostom  here  urges  (see  extract)  the 
terrible  nature  of  retribution  as  a  motive  to  right 
action. 

Extract. 

"  What  are  we  if  we  fail  of  that  spectacle,  if  no 
one  grant  us  then  to  behold  our  Lord }  If  thou 
who  seest  not  the  light  of  the  sun  endure  a  life  more 
bitter  than  death,  what  is  it  likely  that  they  who 
are  deprived  of  that  light  must  suffer }  For  in  the 
one  case  the  loss  is  confined  to  this  one  privation ; 
but  in  the  other  it  does  not  rest  here;  ...  for  he 
who  beholds  not  that  light  must  not  only  be  led 
into  darkness,  but  must  be  burned  continually  and 
waste  away  and  gnash  his  teeth  and  suffer  ten  thou- 
sand other  dreadful  things.  Let  us  not  permit  our- 
selves, then,  by  making  this  brief  time  a  time  of 
carelessness  and  remissness,  to  fall  into  everlasting 
punishment;  but  let  us  do  all  things  and  make  it 
all  our  business  to  attain  to  that  felicity,  and  to 
keep  far  from  that  river  of  fire  which  rushes  with  a 
loud  roaring  before  the  terrible  judgment-seat. 
For  he  who  has  once  been  cast  in  there  must  re- 
main forever  :  there  is  no  one  to  deliver  him  from 
his  punishment,  not  father,  nor  mother,  nor  brother. 
.  .  .  Revolving  these  things,  then,  and  reflecting 
upon  them  continually,  let  us  cleanse  our  life  and 
make  it  lustrous,  that  we  may  see  the  Lord  with 
boldness,  and  obtain  the  good  things  promised, 
through  the  grace  and  loving-kindness  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  by  whom  and  with  whom,  to  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  glory  for  ever  and 
ever!     Amen." — Ho??i.  xii. 


CHRYSOSTOM.  157 

Acts. — These  fifty-four  homilies  are  the  least 
finished  of  any  of  Chrysostom's  discourses.  They 
were  evidently  written  out  by  another  hand,  from 
notes  made  at  their  delivery,  and  were  not  revised 
by  the  preacher.  They  give  a  full  exposition  of 
the  historical  sense,  and  are  marked  by  their  just  ap- 
preciation of  the  rhetorical  elements  in  the  apos- 
tolic discourses.  Their  teachings  are  no  less  valu- 
able than  those  of  the  more  finished  homilies.  The 
series  is  noteworthy  as  being  the  only  one  of  its 
kind  extant  from  the  first  ten  centuries. 

The  Epistles. — We  have  several  series  of  homi- 
lies, aggregating  two  hundred  and  twenty-one,  upon 
all  the  Pauline  Epistles,  including  Hebrews,  except- 
ing Galatians.  Upon  this  last  epistle  there  is  a 
commentary.  A  noteworthy  passage  is  selected 
from  one  of  the  homilies  on  Colossians. 

Extract. 

"  Wait  for  no  other  teacher ;  thou  hast  the  word 
of  God.  There  is  no  teacher  like  it.  Other  teach- 
ers often  conceal  much,  from  vanity  and  envy. 
Hear  this,  ye  men  of  the  world,  and  provide  your- 
selves with  Bibles,  as  dispensaries  for  the  health  of 
your  souls !  Ignorance  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is 
the  cause  of  all  evils.  If  we  go  unarmed  to  the 
battle,  how  shall  we  escape .?  Throw  not  every- 
thing upon  us :  ye  are  sheep  intrusted  to  us  for 
guidance ;  yet  are  ye  not  irrational  creatures,  but 
sheep  that  are  endowed  with  the  gift  of  reason. 
.  .  .  The  grace  of  God  has  so  ordered  it  that  these 
books  should  be  composed  by  publicans,  fishermen, 
tent-makers,  and  shepherds,  simple  and  illiterate 
men,  in  order  that  no  ignorant  person  might  resort 
to  such  an  excuse,  but  that  what  was  said  might  be 
understood  by  all,  so  that  artisans,  servants,  widows, 
and  the  most  uninstructed,  might  be  able  to  profit 
14 


158  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

by  it.  Take  the  Bible  in  thy  hand  ;  hold  fast  that 
which  thou  understandest ;  ruminate  over  those 
parts  that  are  at  present  dark  to  thee ;  and  if  by 
repeated  reading  thou  canst  not  discover  the  mean- 
ing, then  go  to  the  teacher  and  ask  guidance." — 
Horn.  ix.  on  Colosstajis. 

A  writer  of  the  seventeenth  century  (Du  Pin, 
English  translation,  1693)  thus  comments  upon  the 
introductory  commentaries  and  concluding  exhorta- 
tion of  these  homilies  :  "  In  the  commentary  he  gives 
a  reason  of  the  contents  of  the  Gospel,  examines  all 
the  circumstances  thereof,  weighs  the  words,  and 
discovers  in  those  places  which  seem  most  plain 
great  numbers  of  fine  things,  to  which  no  attention 
would  have  been  given  had  he  not  taken  notice  of 
them.  He  keeps  still  to  the  literal  sense,  and  of  all 
explications  he  always  chooses  not  the  most  subtle 
but  the  most  natural.  He  seeks  for  no  allegorical 
or  figurative  sense.  He  useth  no  far-fetched  no- 
tions to  prove  his  opinions ;  avoids  all  entangled 
and  hard  questions,  contenting  himself  to  make 
clear  and  useful  observations  upon  the  history  and 
upon  the  text  of  St.  Paul.  He  gives  a  perfect  light 
to  all  the  places  of  this  apostle's  epistles  which  seem 
most  difficult,  and  particularly  to  those  which  are 
thought  to  speak  of  predestination  and  of  grace. 
His  expositions  remove  all  that  which  at  the  first 
view  makes  them,  appear  terrible  and  fearful.  Every- 
where God  is  represented  as  a  good  and  merciful 
being,  and  willing  to  save  all  men,  and  who  affords 
them  all  necessary  means  of  salvation.  Men  are 
exhorted  to  answer  that  call  of  God,  since  it  is 
their  own  fault  if  they  be  not  saved,  for  those  that 
are  damned  damn  themselves.  He  tells  them  often 
that  God  requireth  no  impossible  thing  of  them ; 
that  with  God's  help  they  may  keep  the  command- 
ments and  practice  virtue.   .  .  . 

"All  the  exhortations  that  conclude  St.  Chrys- 


CHRYSOSTOM,  159 

ostom's  homilies  are  ordinarily  about  certain  points 
of  morality,  as  about  the  fear  that  men  ought  to 
stand  in  of  God's  judgments,  the  necessity  of  re- 
pentance, the  contempt  of  riches,  forgiving  of  ene- 
mies, humility,  abstraction  of  the  heart  from  worldly 
things,  diligent  meditation  upon  the  holy  Scriptures 
and  God's  laws,  an  abhorrence  of  plays  and  shows, 
charity  toward  the  poor,  alms  and  hospitality,  broth- 
erly reproof,  the  duties  of  husbands  to  their  wives, 
of  parents  to  their  children,  of  masters  to  their  serv- 
ants, of  laymen  toward  their  pastors,  patience  in 
afflictions,  that  holiness  wherewith  men  should  come 
to  the  sacraments,  the  benefit  of  prayer  and  the 
conditions  required  therein,  of  fasting  and  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  monastical  and  solitary  life,  assiduity 
in  divine  offices,  attention  to  preaching,  sobriety, 
purity,  modesty,  meekness,  clemency,  contempt  of 
death,  and  many  other  like  subjects,  which  he  hand- 
leth  with  such  familiar  and  yet  such  solid  and  con- 
vincing reasons  that  there  are  no  discourses  more 
capable  of  inspiring  notions  of  piety  and  virtue. 
He  does  not  go  about,  as  most  preachers  do,  to  set 
forth  studied  notions  which  direct  the  understand- 
ing, but  do  not  touch  the  heart.  He  goes  to  the 
bottom  of  things,  searches  the  secret  folds  of  man's 
heart,  and,  not  contented  to  have  discovered  and 
described  vice,  he  begets  a  horror  of  it ;  he  sets 
forth  the  most  powerful  motives  to  deter  Christians 
from  it,  and  the  most  proper  means  to  correct  it 
and  to  practice  true  and  solid  virtue.  He  stretches 
nothing  too  far,  but  distinguishes  exactly  the  mat- 
ter of  a  precept  from  the  advice  therein  con- 
tained. He  is  neither  too  meek  nor  too  severe  ; 
he  is  neither  too  familiar  nor  keeps  too  much  dis- 
tance ;  never  complies  beyond  what  is  meet,  nor 
terrifies  to  discouragement :  in  a  word,  his  exhor- 
tations are  an  excellent  pattern  of  preaching  to 
the  people." 


i6o  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Ho7iiilies  upon  Particular  Passages. 

From  the  numerous  sermons  of  this  class,  most 
of  which  are  upon  New  Testament  passages,  we  give 
almost  entire  the  homily  on  the  Talents,  it  being  a 
characteristic  discourse. 

On  the  Parable  of  the  Talents  {Matt,  xviii). 

"  Therefore  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  likened 
unto  a  certain  king  which  would  take  account  of  his 
servants."  Let  us  not  pass  lightly  over  these  words, 
but  pause  over  that  rigorous  judgment  which  is  to 
take  place.  Entering  into  thy  conscience,  examine 
whatsoever  deeds  thou  hast  done  in  thy  whole  life, 
and  as  the  account  is  here  given  of  the  king  who 
would  take  account  of  his  servants,  picture  to  your- 
self all  men  gathered  at  the  feet  of  the  sovereign 
Judge — kings,  emperors,  generals,  governors,  rich 
and  poor,  bond  and  free — for  "  we  must  all  appear 
before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ,"  says  the  apos- 
tle. If  thou  art  rich,  reflect  that  thou  wilt  have 
to  render  an  account  of  thy  wealth :  whether  thou 
hast  expended  it  upon  courtesans,  flatterers,  and 
parasites,  or  upon  making  glad  the  poor ;  whether 
in  the  service  of  luxury  or  in  doing  good ;  whether 
upon  the  pleasures  of  the  table  or  for  the  solace  of 
the  afflicted.  Thou  wilt  have  to  respond  not  only 
as  to  the  use  of  thy  possessions,  but  also  concern- 
ing their  acquirement.  Hast  thou  gained  these  by 
honest  toil,  or  by  violence  and  craftiness.?  Are 
they  a  heritage  from  ancestors,  or  dost  thou  enjoy 
them  at  the  cost  of  despoiling  the  widow  and  the 
orphan .?  God  will  do  toward  us  as  we  have  done 
toward  our  servants :  we  compel  them  to  account 
to  us,  not  only  for  the  money  which  they  have  spent, 
but  also  for  what  they  have  received — of  whom, 
how,  and  when  they  received  it.  The  poor  man 
also  must  give  account  of  his  poverty,  whether  he 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  i6r 

has  borne  it  with  courage  and  resignation,  or  with 
murmurs  and  complaints  against  the  divine  Provi- 
dence which  has  left  him  in  straits,  side  by  side 
with  the  rich  reveling  in  opulence  and  pleasure. 
Has  he  himself  obeyed  the  precept  concerning 
alms-giving?  for  no  one  is  absolved,  not  even  the 
poor,  as  witness  that  poor  widow  of  the  Gospel 
who  gave  only  two  mites,  and  whose  modest  offer- 
ing surpassed  the  bounty  of  the  rich. 

Magistrates  and  judges  will  also  be  compelled 
to  give  account  of  their  administration  :  whether 
they  have  corrupted  justice  by  giving  decrees 
through  favor  or  prejudice,  have  surrendered  it  to 
the  seductions  of  flattery,  and  have  abused  their 
authority  to  condemn  the  innocent.  Ministers  at 
the  altar  too  will  be  examined  with  no  less  severity. 
They  above  all  must  experience  a  most  rigorous  in- 
quiry. Charged  with  the  keeping  of  the  holy  word, 
they  will  have  to  answer  as  to  whether  they  have 
left  their  people  ignorant  of  anything  which  it  con- 
cerned them  to  know ;  whether  they  have  suffered 
any  negligence  in  their  teaching ;  whether  they  have 
faithfully  practiced  what  they  preached.  Even 
more  particularly  must  the  bishop,  from  the  pre- 
eminence of  his  dignity,  render  account  of  the  in- 
struction of  his  people,  of  the  care  of  the  poor,  of 
his  ordination,  and  of  all  the  details  of  his  ministry. 
We  shall  be  asked  not  only  as  to  our  actions  but 
also  as  to  our  words,  as  to  the  part  we  have  taken 
in  slanderous  and  calumniating  conversations,  even 
as  to  our  thoughts.  The  apostle  advises  of  this, 
saying,  "  Therefore  judge  nothing  before  the  time 
until  the  Lord  come,  who  both  will  bring  to  light 
the  hidden  things  of  darkness,  and  will  manifest 
the  counsels  of  the  heart." 

Apply,  then,  the  parable  to  all  ages,  conditions, 
and  sexes.  Think  upon  that  dreadful  judgment ! 
Recall  all  the  sins  of  thy  life.     They  may  be  effaced 


162  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

from  thy  memory ;  they  are  always  present  to  the 
eye  of  God,  unless  thou  hast  expiated  them  by  pen- 
itence, confession,  and  sincere  conversion.  Why 
will  he  cause  us  to  give  account  ?  Not  that  he  who 
knows  all  things  before  they  come  to  pass  is  igno- 
rant of  our  works ;  but  to  convince  thee,  his  serv- 
ant, that  thou  legitimately  owest  thy  debt  to  him ; 
or  rather,  not  simply  that  thou  mayst  recognize  all 
thy  debts,  but  that  thou  mayst  pay  them.  With 
this  purpose  it  was  that  he  gave  to  his  prophet  to 
proclaim  to  the  house  of  Israel  their  iniquities,  that 
they  might  perceive  them,  and,  above  all,  correct 
them. 

"  And  when  he  had  begun  to  reckon,  one  was 
brought  unto  him  which  owed  him  ten  thousand 
talents."  .  .  .  Man,  when  he  gets  the  mastery  of 
his  debtor,  thinks  of  him  as  his  prey;  he  congratu- 
lates himself,  and  neglects  no  means  for  making 
him  pay.  If  the  poverty  of  the  debtor  makes  it 
impossible  for  him  to  obtain  anything,  he  gets  his 
pay  out  of  his  person  in  the  bad  treatment  to  which 
he  makes  him  submit.  God  does  quite  the  con- 
trary. He  leaves  nothing  undone  to  set  the  debtor 
free.  We  enrich  ourselves  with  the  debts  which  are 
paid  to  us.     God  is  enriched  in  remitting  our  debts. 

"But  forasmuch  as  he  had  not  to  pay."  He 
had  nothing  to  pay  }  A  new  proof  this  of  his  un- 
faithfulness. "  He  had  not  to  pay  "  means  that  he 
was  destitute  of  good  works ;  that  he  had  nothing 
to  compensate  for  his  sins;  that  he  had  to  redeem 
him  neither  good  works  nor  sufferings.  As  says  the 
apostle,  who  declares,  in  connection  with  good 
works,  that '' when  a  man  worketh  not  but  believeth 
on  him  who  justifieth  the  ungodly,  his  faith  is  count- 
ed for  righteousness  ";  and  as  to  tribulations,  that 
"  such  a  man  is  to  be  delivered  unto  Satan  for  the 
destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  his  soul  may  be  saved." 
This  man  devoid  of  all  good  works  was  overwhelmed 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  163 

with  the  great  weight  of  his  iniquity.  "  But  foras- 
much as  he  had  not  to  pay,  his  lord  commanded 
him  to  be  sold."  Nevertheless,  the  rest  of  the  par- 
able proves  that  the  order  was  not  executed,  thanks 
to  the  indulgence  of  the  lord.  If  he  had  intended 
to  do  it,  who  would  have  prevented  him .?  Why 
then  command  it,  if  he  did  not  wish  to  sell  him  } 
That  he  might  intimidate  him  by  the  threat,  might 
make  him  a  suppliant,  and  so  do  him  favor.  He 
could  without  doubt  have  remitted  his  debt,  par- 
doned him  before  being  besought  by  him,  before 
making  him  give  an  account;  he  preferred,  how- 
ever, to  make  known  to  him  first  the  greatness  of 
his  debt,  then  to  remit  it  to  him  entirely.  You  are 
to  see  how  harsh  and  unmerciful  he  was  toward  his 
companion  after  these  menaces  to  himself  and  after 
the  pardon  which  was  granted  him :  what  would 
it  have  been  if  the  Lord  had  not  employed  these 
means  to  soften  him .?  The  Lord  did  everything 
that  was  possible  to  subdue  the  harshness  of  his 
soul ;  if  he  was  not  corrected,  it  was  not  the  fault 
of  the  master,  but  of  himself,  who  refused  all  the 
means  used  for  his  correction. 

"  He  fell  down  and  worshiped  him,  saying, 
Lord,  have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee 
all."  .  .  .  Let  us  all  learn,  if  negligent  in  praying, 
what  efficacy  there  is  in  prayer !  The  servant  had, 
to  bring  forward,  neither  fasting,  nor  voluntary  pov- 
erty, nor  any  sort  of  merit ;  but  he  prays,  and  this 
is  enough  to  obtain  for  himself  commiseration. 
Let  us  not  cease,  then,  to  pray!  You  have  not 
heard  this  man  so  stained  with  iniquity  say,  "  I  am 
afraid,  I  dare  not  speak  to  my  lord ;  how  shall  I 
bring  myself  to  speak  to  him.?  "  The  language,  this, 
of  those  sinners  whom  the  demon  of  fear  over- 
comes. Thou  art  timid,  O  my  brother !  for  this 
reason  it  is  that  thou  shouldst  approach,  that  thou 
mayst  gain  confidence.     Is  he  whom  thou  wouldst 


i64  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

appease  a  man,  that  thou  shouldst  blush  to  pray  to 
him  ?  No,  it  is  God,  who  more  than  thou  thyself 
desires  to  remit  to  thee  thine  offenses ;  is  more  in- 
tent than  thou  thyself  upon  thy  salyation.  How 
many  proofs  has  he  not  given  thee  ?  Thou  lackest 
confidence?  That,  indeed,  is  the  very  thing  which 
should  give  it  to  thee.  The  less  we  think  ourselves 
worthy  of  grace,  the  surer  we  are  of  obtaining  it. 
To  pretend  to  be  just  in  the  eyes  of  God  would  be 
the  strangest  kind  of  temerity,  and,  whatever  jus- 
tice one  might  have  with  regard  to  everything  else, 
this  presumption  would  destroy  all  merit  of  it. 
But  to  be  persuaded  that  one  is  the  last  of  men  is 
a  real  title  to  justice  :  witness  the  Pharisee  and  the 
publican.  Let  us,  then,  not  lose  courage ;  let  not 
the  sense  of  our  sins  cast  us  down  in  dejection ; 
but  let  us  draw  nigh  to  God,  cast  ourselves  at  his 
feet,  implore  his  mercy  as  the  servant  did  here. 
Happy  had  he  persevered! — but  his  conduct  was 
soon  to  belie  itself. 

"  Then  the  lord  was  moved  with  compassion, 
and  loosed  him  and  forgave  him  the  debt."  The 
servant  had  asked  only  for  delay ;  the  lord  gives 
to  him  a  full  discharge ;  he  has  thus  obtained  more 
than  he  asked.  This  is  what  led  Saint  Paul  to 
say,  "  He  who  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly 
more  than  we  can  ask  or  even  think."  No,  thou 
knowest  not  how  to  imagine  all  that  God  is  able  to 
do  for  thee.  Have,  then,  no  shame  ;  if  thou  blush- 
est,  let  it  be  only  on  account  of  thy  sins,  but  do 
not  despair;  do  not  give  up  prayer;  draw  nigh, 
sinner  that  thou  art,  in  order  to  soften  thy  master 
and  give  him  occasion  to  signalize  his  mercy  in  the 
pardon  of  thy  sins.  .  .  . 

"  But  the  same  servant  went  out  and  found  one 
of  his  fellow-servants,  which  owed  him  three  hun- 
dred pence,  and  he  laid  hands  on  him  and  took 
him  by  the  throat,  saying.  Pay  me  that  thou  owest.'* 


CHRYSOSTOM,  165 

Can  anything  more  criminal  be  conceived  ?  The 
kindness  of  his  master  is  still  very  recent,  and 
already  he  has  forgotten  it.  You  see  what  advan- 
tage there  is  in  preserving  the  memory  of  one's 
sins.  If  the  servant  of  the  gospel  had  not  forgot- 
ten his,  he  would  not  have  become  so  harsh  and  so 
barbarous.  Therefore  it  is  that  I  repeat  to  you  and 
shall  not  cease  to  do  so,  how  useful  and  necessary 
it  is  to  have  always  present  to  our  thought  the  sins 
which  we  have  committed,  because  nothing  is  more 
suited  to  preserve  us  in  the  moderation  of  sweet- 
ness and  fraternal  love.  .  .  .  This  man  forgets  both 
his  debt  and  the  favor  which  had  been  done  to  him. 
His  ingratitude  makes  him  cruel,  and  by  his  inhu- 
manity he  loses  all  that  the  divine  compassion  had 
availed  him.  "  He  laid  hands  on  him  and  took 
him  by  the  throat,  saying.  Pay  me  that  thou  owest." 
He  does  not  say,  Pay  me  a  hundred  pence  :  he 
would  have  been  ashamed  to  name  so  small  a  sum ; 
but,  "  Pay  me  that  thou  owest.  And  his  fellow- 
servant  fell  down  at  his  feet  and  besought  him,  say- 
ing. Have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.'* 
The  same  words  are  used  to  win  him  to  which  he 
owed  his  pardon.  To  grant  pardon  after  he  had 
himself  been  pardoned  was  thus  a  binding  obliga- 
tion rather  than  an  act  of  generosity.  What  a  dif- 
ference, again,  in  the  nature  of  the  debt  and  in  the 
character  of  the  creditors !  On  the  one  hand  ten 
thousand  talents,  on  the  other  a  hundred  pence; 
here  a  lord  offended  by  his  servant,  there  a  man  of 
the  same  condition  as  the  servant.  .  .  . 

"  So  when  his  fellow-servants  saw  what  was  done 
they  were  indignant."  They  are  the  first  to  con- 
demn him.  Scripture  says.  The  goodness  of  the 
lord  becomes  still  more  apparent  by  this.  He,  hav- 
ing learned  what  had  happened,  summons  the  serv- 
ant— cites  him  anew  to  his  tribunal.  But,  having 
pronounced  sentence,  he  still  deigns  to  enter  into  a 


i66  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FA  THERS. 

discussion.  "  Thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee 
all  that  debt."  Wicked  !  when  the  offense  was  per- 
sonal to  himself  he  had  not  used  this  term.  It  is 
only  as  the  servant  shows  himself  harsh  toward  his 
fellow-servant  that  he  is  irritated  and  indignant, 
in  order  to  teach  us  that  he  pardons  our  offenses 
toward  himself  more  easily  than  our  sins  toward 
our  brethren.  .  .  . 

"  And  his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to 
the  tormentors."  What,  then,  more  fatal  than  the 
spirit  of  vengeance,  since  it  recalls  an  act  of  the 
divine  bounty.''  What  the  other  sins  have  not  been 
able  to  do  to  the  heart  of  God,  hatred  against  one's 
neighbor  has  effected.  However,  it  is  written,  "  The 
gifts  of  God  are  without  repentance."  Why,  then, 
revoke  his  favor  in  this  case .?  Because  there  is  no 
sin  more  odious  than  the  spirit  of  vengeance.  Oth- 
ers may  find  favor;  this  alone,  far  from  obtaining 
pardon,  causes  even  those  to  revive  which  pardon 
had  effaced.  The  spirit  of  vengeance  thus  pro- 
duces a  double  evil :  first,  that  of  being  inexcus- 
able in  the  sight  of  God ;  again,  that  of  recalling 
and  reproducing  all  other  sins  even  after  they  have 
been  pardoned.  .  .  .  Let  us  labor  to  banish  from 
our  hearts  all  resentment,  to  conciliate  the  affec- 
tions of  those  whom  we  might  have  for  enemies, 
l^ersuaded  that  neither  prayer,  nor  fasting,  nor  alms- 
giving, nor  participation  in  the  holy  mysteries,  noth- 
ing, in  a  word,  will  be  able  to  defend  us  in  the  last 
day  if  we  have  maintained  animosity  against  our 
neighbor;  and  that  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  give  up 
our  resentment,  whatever  may  be  the  number  of 
our  sins,  we  may  be  able  to  obtain  pardon.  It  is 
not  I  who  say  this,  but  God  himself,  who  is  to  judge 
us.  *'So,  likewise,"  he  says  to  us  in  his  gospel, 
"  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  also  unto  you  if  ye 
from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother 
their  trespasses." 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  167 

Sermons  upon  Doctrinal  Subjects. 

These  are  comparatively  few  in  number,  the 
more  noteworthy  among  them  being  six  sermons 
against  the  Jews,  six  upon  the  incomprehensible 
nature  of  God,  against  the  Anomceans,  and  a  dis- 
course upon  consubstantiality. 

Moral  Discourses. 

It  is  only  for  convenience  that  we  give  this 
name  to  a  single  class  of  Chrysostom's  discourses, 
for  they  almost  all  enforce  strenuously  some  moral 
obligation.  The  score  or  more  of  homilies,  how- 
ever, which  are  so  designated  treat  of  such  topics 
as  penance,  fasting,  prayer,  alms-giving,  gluttony, 
laziness,  meekness,  despair,  etc. 

Homilies  upon  Festival  Days  and  on  the  Saints. 

Among  these  are  sermons  upon  Christ's  nativ- 
ity, baptism,  passion,  resurrection,  and  ascension, 
upon  the  Holy  Week,  and  upon  Pentecost.  The 
panegyrics  embrace  one  upon  all  the  saints,  one 
upon  all  the  holy  martyrs,  and  about  thirty  upon 
various  scriptural  and  later  saints  and  martyrs. 

SPECIAL    SERMONS. 

We  have  sermons  preached  when  he  was  made 
a  priest,  when  he  was  banished,  when  he  returned 
from  his  exile,  etc. ;  but  the  most  celebrated  of  all 
these  special  discourses  are  the  sermons  on  the 
statues,  of  which  we  give  an  account. 

Sermons  on  the  Statues. 

In  preaching  this  series  of  sermons,  Chrysostom 
found  the  opportunity  of  his  life  for  winning  men 
from  the  world  unto  God,  an  opportunity  which  he 


i68  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

nobly  used.  Other  sermons  of  his  were  more  care- 
fully elaborated,  these  being  preached  in  almost 
daily  succession  and  in  the  midst  of  the  most  dis- 
tracting scenes ;  others,  like  the  homilies  on  John, 
moved  upon  a  higher  plane  of  thought ;  but  viewed 
with  regard  to  the  true  ends  of  preaching  the  Word 
— to  reprove,  rebuke,  and  exhort,  to  comfort  and 
convert — the  homilies  on  the  statues  were  the  grand- 
est sermons  of  the  grandest  preacher  of  what  was 
only  then  ceasing  to  be  a  grand  age  of  Christianity. 
The  occasion  of  these  sermons  was  the  throwing 
down  by  a  mob  of  the  statues  of  the  imperial  fam- 
ily in  the  city  of  Antioch,  and  the  consequent  ap- 
prehension of  the  vengeance  of  Theodosius  upon 
the  city.  No  public  calamity  could,  in  these  days 
of  responsible  power,  be  foreboded  with  such  feel- 
ings of  terror  as  racked  the  citizens  of  Antioch, 
What  Theodosius  was  capable  of  doing,  and  what 
they  might  expect  from  his  unrestrained  wrath,  was 
shown  three  years  later,  when  for  a  seditious  offense, 
he  gave  over  the  city  of  Thessalonica  to  the  fury 
of  barbarian  troops,  who  in  three  hours  butchered 
seven  thousand  people.  Many  of  the  wealthier 
citizens  fled  from  what  they  thought  a  doomed 
town.  The  great  mass  who  remained  cowered  be- 
fore the  expected  blow,  which  could  only  be  avert- 
ed by  the  intercession  of  the  bishop,  Flavian,  who 
had  hastened  to  Constantinople  to  implore  the  Em- 
peror's mercy.  It  was  now  at  the  beginning  of 
Lent;  never  was  a  penitential  season  more  marked 
with  gloom,  and  never  did  a  Christian  preacher 
meet  the  demands  upon  him  of  such  an  occasion 
more  worthily  than  did  Chrysostom.  The  first 
sermon  of  the  series  had  been  preached  a  few  days 
before  the  sedition,  and  the  burden  of  its  exhorta- 
tion had  been  the  sin  of  blasphemy  to  which  the 
Antiochians  would  seem  to  have  been  especially 
addicted.     The  heroic  treatment  which  John  sug- 


CHRYSOSTOM.  169 

gested  for  the  cure  of  this  sin,  and  the  bold  claim 
which  he  then  made,  that  the  Christians  were  the 
saving  elements  in  the  city,  gave  promise  of  the 
spirit  with  which  he  would  throw  himself  into  the 
work  of  castigating  and  comforting  the  afflicted 
people  !  ^  In  the  first  sermon  after  the  outbreak,  he 
portrays  most  vividly,  in  contrast  with  its  former 
glory,  the  present  desolation  of  the  city.  "The  fo- 
rum is  deserted ;  men  sit  trembling  in  their  houses, 
with  their  servants,  or  are  seized  and  dragged  to  the 
courts  without  ceremony  and  just  as  chance  directs. 
The  very  nature  of  the  air  and  even  the  circle  of 
the  sun's  beams  now  seem  to  me  to  look  mournful, 
and  to  shine  more  dimly."  Here  he  could  have 
wished  to  stop,  for  his  anguished  hearers,  like  the 
Jews  of  old  time  who,  while  slaving  at  the  mud  and 
bricks,  could  not  listen  to  Moses  as  he  told  them 
of  great  things  awaiting  them,  would  feel  too  sad 
to  hear.  Nevertheless,  his  message,  he  expects,  will 
be  as  the  sun  dissipating  gloomy  clouds,  and  he 
will  ask  their  attention.  Had  they  done  as  he  had 
asked,  and  rebuked  the  blasphemy  and  insolence 
of  the  few,  the  whole  city  had  not  now  been  in  ter- 
ror. "  These  things  I  foretold,  and  they  have  now 
actually  taken  place,  and  we  are  paying  the  penalty 
of  that  listlessness.  You  overlooked  the  insult  that 
was  done  unto  God.  Behold,  he  hath  permitted 
the  Emperor  to  be  insulted,  and  peril  to  the  utmost 
to  hang  over  all."  Yet  even  now,  "chastised  by 
our  present  calamity,  let  us  restrain  the  inordinate 
madness  of  these  men.  Let  us  shut  up  their  mouths, 
even  as  we  close  up  pestiferous  fountains ;  let  us 
turn  them  to  a  contrary  course,  and  the  evils  which 
have  taken  hold  of  the  city  shall  be  entirely  stopped." 
The  sermon  then  proceeds  upon  the  subject  of  rich- 
es, from  the  text,  "  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in 
this  world  that  they  be  not  high-minded."  In  the 
beginning  of  the  third  homily,  Chrysostom  encour- 


I70  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ages  the  people  by  foretelling  the  favorable  influ- 
ence of  Flavian  upon  the  emperor.  The  very  ap- 
pearance of  the  saint  will  have  power.  *'  He  will 
also  call  to  his  aid  the  season,  and  bring  forward 
the  sacred  festival  of  the  Passover,  and  will  remind 
him  of  the  season  when  Christ  remitted  the  sins  of 
the  whole  world.  He  will  exhort  him  to  imitate 
his  Lord.  He  will  also  remind  him  of  the  par- 
able of  the  ten  thousand  talents  and  the  hundred 
pence.  I  know  the  boldness  of  our  father,  that  he 
will  not  hesitate  to  alarm  him  from  the  parable  and 
to  say,  *  Take  heed  lest  thou  also  hear  it  said  in 
that  day,  O  thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee, 
etc..'"  After  declaring  the  more  than  princely 
dignity  of  the  bishop,  and  showing  that  the  peo- 
ple's hope  is  in  God,  he  addresses  himself  to  his 
work  of  awakening  penitence.''  Fasting  is  a  true 
medicine,  but  it  must  be  rightly  used,  and  is  use- 
less except  we  abstain  from  sin.  Evil  and  calum- 
nious speaking  is  to  be  abjured,  for  as  we  judge 
we  shall  be  judged.  But,  if  we  may  not  thus  lift 
up  our  tongues  against  men,  how  much  more  hei- 
nous is  our  conduct  toward  God  !  Notwithstanding 
this,  what  a  contrast  there  is  between  the  forbear- 
ance of  God  and  the  dreadful  punishments  now 
being  meted  out  by  the  authorities  of  the  city  ! 
"Blessed  be  God,"  begins  homily  four,  for  already 
the  people  are  flocking  from  all  sides  to  the  church 
as  a  refuge  from  the  storm.  The  exhortation,  con- 
tinued also  in  the  next  homily,  is  mainly  upon  forti- 
tude and  patience,  the  examples  of  Job,  the  three 
children  of  Babylon,  and  the  Ninevites  being  used. 
Both  homilies,  as  indeed  do  most  in  this  series, 
conclude  with  an  appeal  against  the  use  of  oaths. 
The  subject  of  the  fear  of  death,'  which  had  been 
brought  up  in  the  fifth,  is  treated  further  in  the 
sixth  homily,  and  men  are  urged  to  fear  not  them 
that  kill  the  body  but  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul. 


CHRYSOSTOM.  171 

Hope  is  held  out  that  Flavian  will  succeed  with  the 
emperor,  and  the  usual  exhortation  is  given  upon 
oaths.  In  the  several  homilies  following,  the  preacher 
gets  entirely  away  from  the  present,  and  discourses 
upon  the  truths  of  revelation  and  upon  various 
themes  of  natural  theology.  Not  a  few  pagans  had 
been  driven  to  the  church  as  the  only  place  where 
they  could  now  find  solace.  To  these  Chrysostom 
would  offer  something  besides  his  scathing  denunci- 
ations of  sin,  and  happy  words  of  consolation.  They 
must  know  the  grounds  of  his  hope,  and  the  scope 
of  the  argument  upon  which  he  now  enters  shows 
that  he  was  laying  for  them  broad  and  sure  founda- 
tions upon  which  they  might  step  forward  into  the 
fold.  Homily  thirteen  once  more  gives  a  large 
space  to  the  affairs  of  the  city  at  the  time  when  the 
court  was  sitting  to  try  offenders,  and  pictures  of 
the  misery  which  Chrysostom  had  then  seen  are  used 
to  soften  the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The  next  dis- 
course treats  for  the  most  part  of  the  use  of  rash  vows, 
enjoining  the  people  therefrom  by  the  examples  of 
Herod,*  Jephthah,  and  Saul.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  fifteenth,  the  advantages  of  fear  are  set  forth, 
and  the  happy  effect  upon  the  city  of  their  troubles.^ 
A  scathing  rebuke  is  given  the  people  in  the  six- 
teenth, on  account  of  their  pusillanimity  on  the  oc- 
casion of  the  entrance  into  the  church  of  the  prefect, 
a  heathen,  who  had  come  to  assure  them  against  an 
alarm  which  had  been  started  in  the  city.  The  fol- 
lowing discourse  speaks  of  the  band  of  monks  who 
came  into  the  city  from  the  neighboring  mountains 
and  met  the  imperial  commissioners,  and  by  their 
saintly  presence  compelled  their  mercy  until  they 
should  receive  further  instructions  from  the  Emper- 
or; also  of  the  part  that  the  clergy  had  borne  in 
the  deliverance  of  the  city.  After  mentioning  the 
hurniliation  which  the  Emperor  had  justly  put  upon 
their  once  proud  metropolis,  and  speaking  of  the 


172  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

puerile  lamentations  over  the  same  which  he  had 
heard  in  the  forum,  the  preacher  asserts  that  the 
true  title  of  Antioch  to  greatness  is  her  relations  to 
Christianity :  because  there  first  the  disciples  were 
called  Christians;  because  of  the  charity  of  those 
early  Christians  at  the  time  of  famine  ;  and  because 
of  their  zeal  to  uphold  pure  doctrines  in  opposition 
to  Jewish  observances.  The  three  succeeding  ser- 
mons treat  of  various  practical  subjects  appropriate 
to  the  penitential  season,  such  as  fasting,  sympathy 
for  the  afflicted,  impatience,  swearing,  malice — en- 
tertaining which  we  should  not  communicate — care- 
lessness in  devotion,  perseverance,  and  repentance, 
the  twentieth  closing  with  threats  of  discipline  to- 
ward those  who  shall  have  failed  to  free  themselves 
entirely  from  the  habit  of  swearing,  before  Easter. 
The  last  homily,  pronounced  after  the  return  of 
Flavian,  gives  an  account  of  the  bishop's  mission 
to  the  emperor,  his  reception,  his  address,^  and  the 
emperor's  magnanimous  response.  The  series  con- 
cludes with  an  appeal  to  the  people,  in  view  of  such 
signal  blessings,  to  show  the  true  gladness.  "What, 
therefore,  ye  did  then  (when  the  news  of  pardon 
came)  in  crowning  the  forum  with  garlands,  in  light- 
ing lamps,  in  spreading  couches  of  green  leaves  be- 
fore the  shops,  and  keeping  high  festival,  as  if  the 
city  had  been  just  now  born ;  this  do  ye,  although 
in  another  manner,  throughout  all  time :  being 
crowned  not  with  flowers  but  with  virtue;  lighting 
up  throughout  your  whole  souls  the  luster  that  is 
from  good  works ;  rejoicing  with  a  spiritual  glad- 
ness." 

EXTRACTS. 

I.  "But  since  our  discourse  has  now  turned  to 
the  subject  of  blasphemy,  I  desire  to  ask  one  favor 
of  you  all,  in  return  for  this  my  address  and  speech 
with  you :  which  is,  that  you  will  correct  on  my  be- 


CHRYSOSTOM,  173 

half  the  blasphemers  of  this  city.  And  should  you 
hear  any  one  in  the  public  thoroughfare,  or  in  the 
midst  of  the  forum,  blaspheming  God,  reproach,  re- 
buke him ;  and  should  it  be  necessary  to  inflict 
blows,  spare  not  to  do  so.  Smite  him  on  the  face; 
strike  his  mouth ;  sanctify  thy  hand  with  the  blow, 
and  if  any  should  accuse  thee,  and  drag  thee  to  the 
place  of  justice,  follow  them  thither;  and  when  the 
judge  on  the  bench  calls  thee  to  account,  say  boldly 
that  the  man  blasphemed  the  King  of  angels.  For 
if  it  be  necessary  to  punish  those  who  blaspheme 
an  earthly  king,  much  more  so  those  who  treat  him 
contemptuously.  It  is  a  common  crime,  a  public 
injury,  and  it  is  lawful  for  every  one  who  is  willing 
to  bring  forward  an  accusation.  Let  the  Jews  and 
Greeks  learn  that  the  Christians  are  the  saviors  of 
the  city,  that  they  are  its  guardians,  its  patrons,  and 
its  teachers.  Let  the  dissolute  and  the  rebellious 
also  learn  this :  that  they  may  fear  the  servants  of 
God  too ;  that  if  at  any  time  they  are  inclined  to 
utter  such  a  thing,  they  may  look  around  every  way 
at  each  other,  and  tremble  even  at  their  own  shad- 
ows, anxious  lest  perchance  a  Christian,  having 
heard  what  they  said,  should  leap  forward  and 
sharply  chastise  them." — Horn.  /,  12. 

2.  "  Let  us  not,  then,  despair  of  our  safety,  but 
let  us  pray;  let  us  make  invocation;  let  us  suppli- 
cate ;  let  us  send  an  embassy  to  the  King  that  is 
above  with  many  tears.  We  have  this  fast  too  as 
an  ally,  and  as  an  assistant  in  this  good  interces- 
sion. Therefore,  as  when  the  winter  is  over  and 
the  summer  is  appearing,  the  sailor  draws  his  vessel 
to  the  deep,  and  the  soldier  burnishes  his  arms  and 
makes  ready  his  steed  for  the  battle,  and  the  hus- 
bandman sharpens  his  sickle,  and  the  traveler  boldly 
undertakes  long  journeys,  and  the  wrestler  strips 
and  bares  himself  for  the  contest,  so,  too,  when  the 
fast  appears,  like  a  kind  of  spiritual  summer,  let  us 


174 


POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS, 


as  soldiers  burnish  our  weapons ;  and  as  husband- 
men, let  us  sharpen  our  sickle ;  and  as  sailors,  let  us 
order  our  thoughts  against  the  waves  of  extrava- 
gant desires ;  and  as  travelers,  let  us  set  out  on  the 
journey  toward  heaven ;  and  as  wrestlers,  let  us 
strip  for  the  contest.  .  .  .  Hast  thou  observed  the 
wrestler  ?  Hast  thou  observed  the  soldier  ?  If 
thou  art  a  wrestler,  it  is  necessary  for  thee  to  engage 
in  the  conflict  naked.  If  a  soldier,  it  behooves 
thee  to  stand  armed  at  all  points  for  the  battle. 
How,  then,  are  both  these  things  possible,  to  be 
naked  and  yet  not  naked  .^  to  be  clothed  and  yet 
not  clothed  1  How  }  I  will  tell  thee.  Divest  thy- 
self of  worldly  cares,  and  thou  hast  become  a  wres- 
tler. Put  on  the  spiritual  armor,  and  thou  hast  be- 
come a  soldier.  Strip  thyself  of  worldly  thoughts, 
for  the  season  is  one  of  wrestling.  Clothe  thyself 
with  a  spiritual  panoply,  for  we  have  a  heavy  war- 
fare to  wage  with  demons." — Ho7n.  iii^  3. 

3.  "  Permit  me  that  I  now  say  to  you  at  a  fitting 
time,  *  Brethren,  be  not  children  in  understanding; 
howbeit  in  malice  be  ye  children.'  For  this  is  a 
childish  terror  of  ours,  if  we  fear  death,  but  are  not 
fearful  of  sin.  Little  children,  too,  have  a  fear  of 
masks,  but  fear  not  the  fire.  On  the  contrary,  if 
they  are  carried  by  accident  near  a  lighted  candle, 
they  stretch  out  the  hand  without  any  concern  to- 
ward the  candle  and  the  flame ;  yet  a  mask  which 
is  utterly  contemptible  terrifies  them,  whereas  they 
have  no  dread  of  fire,  which  is  really  a  thing  to  be 
afraid  of.  Just  so,  we  too  have  a  fear  of  death, 
which  is  a  mask  that  might  well  be  despised ;  but 
have  no  fear  of  sin,  which  is  truly  dreadful,  and, 
even  as  fire,  devours  the  conscience.  So  that,  if  we 
were  once  to  consider  what  death  is,  we  should  at 
no  time  be  afraid  of  it.  What,  then,  I  pray  you, 
is  death  }  Just  what  it  is  to  put  off"  a  garment.  For 
the  body  is  about  the  soul  as  a  garment,  and  after 


CHR  VSOSTOM. 


175 


laying  this  aside  for  a  short  time,  by  means  of  death, 
we  shall  resume  it  again  with  the  more  splendor. 
What  is  death,  at  most  ?  It  is  a  journey  for  a  sea- 
son ;  a  sleep  longer  than  usual.  So  that,  if  thou 
fearest  death,  thou  shouldst  also  fear  sleep.  If,  for 
those  who  are  dying,  thou  art  pained,  grieve  for 
those  too  who  are  eating  and  drinking,  for  as  this 
is  natural  so  is  that.  Let  not  natural  things  sadden 
thee ;  rather  let  things  which  arise  from  an  evil 
choice  make  thee  sorrowful.  Sorrow  not  for  the 
dying  man;  but  sorrow  for  him  who  is  living  in 
sin." — Horn,  v^  3. 

4.  ''  Wherefore  it  is  necessary  for  me  again  to 
have  recourse  to  the  same  entreaty  that  I  made  be- 
fore. For  lately  I  besought  you  that  each  one  tak- 
ing the  head  of  John,  just  cut  off  and  the  warm 
blood  dropping  from  it,  you  would  thus  go  home 
and  think  that  you  saw  it  before  your  eyes,  while  it 
emitted  a  voice,  and  said, '  Abhor  my  murderer,  the 
oath ! '  What  a  rebuke  did  not  effect,  this  oath 
effected ;  what  a  tyrant's  wrath  was  insufficient  for, 
this,  the  necessity  of  keeping  an  oath,  brought 
about.  And  when  the  tyrant  was  publicly  rebuked 
in  the  hearing  of  all,  he  bore  the  censure  nobly ; 
but  when  he  had  thrown  himself  into  the  fatal  ne- 
cessity caused  by  oaths,  then  he  cut  off  that  blessed 
head.  This  same  thing,  therefore,  I  entreat;  and 
cease  not  entreating  that  wherever  we  go,  we  go 
bearing  this  head,  and  that  we  show  it  to  all,  crying 
aloud  as  it  does  and  denouncing  oaths.  For,  al- 
though we  were  never  so  listless  and  remiss,  yet, 
beholding  the  eyes  of  that  head  fearfully  glaring 
upon  us,  and  threatening  us  if  we  swear,  we  should 
be  more  powerfully  kept  in  check  by  this  terror 
than  by  any  curb,  and  be  easily  able  to  restrain  and 
curb  the  tongue  from  its  inclination  toward  oaths." 
— Horn,  xivy  I. 

5.  "  Seest  thou  what  advantage  is  come  of  fear  1 


176  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

If  fear  were  not  a  good  thing,  fathers  would  not 
have  set  schoohnasters  over  their  children,  nor  law- 
givers magistrates  for  cities.  What  can  be  more 
grievous  than  hell  ?  Yet  nothing  is  more  profitable 
than  the  fear  of  it :  for  the  fear  of  hell  will  bring 
us  the  crown  of  the  kingdom.  Where  fear  is,  there 
is  no  envy ;  where  fear  is,  the  love  of  money  does 
not  disturb ;  where  fear  is,  anger  is  quenched,  evil 
concupiscence  is  repressed,  and  every  unreasonable 
passion  is  exterminated.  And  even  as  in  a  house 
where  there  is  always  a  soldier  under  arms,  no  rob- 
ber, nor  house-breaker,  nor  any  such  evil-doer  will 
dare  to  make  his  appearance,  so  also,  while  fear 
holds  possession  of  our  minds,  none  of  the  unruly 
passions  will  readily  attack  us,  but  all  fly  off  and 
are  banished,  being  driven  away  in  every  direction 
by  the  power  of  fear.  And  not  only  this  advantage 
do  we  gain  from  fear,  but  also  another  which  is  far 
greater.  For  not  only,  indeed,  does  it  expel  our 
evil  passions,  but  it  also  introduces  every  kind  of 
virtue  with  great  facility.  When  fear  exists,  there  is 
zeal  in  alms-giving,  and  intensity  of  prayer,  and 
tears  warm  and  frequent,  and  groans  fraught  with 
compunction.  For  nothing  so  swallows  up  sin,  and 
makes  virtue  to  increase  and  flourish,  as  the  nature 
of  a  perpetual  dread.  Therefore,  it  is  impossible 
for  him  who  does  not  live  in  fear  to  act  aright;  as, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  is  impossible  that  the  man 
who  lives  in  fear  can  go  wrong. 

"  Let  us  not,  then,  grieve,  beloved,  let  us  not 
despond  on  account  of  the  present  tribulation,  but 
let  us  admire  the  well-devised  plan  of  God's  wis- 
dom. For  by  these  very  means  through  which  the 
devil  hoped  to  overturn  our  city,  hath  God  restored 
and  corrected  it.  The  devil  animated  certain  law- 
less men  to  treat  the  statues  of  the  emperor  con- 
temptuously, in  order  that  the  very  foundations 
of  the  city  might  be   razed.     But  God  employed 


CHRYSOSTOM.  177 

this  same  circumstance  for  our  greater  correction, 
driving  out  all  sloth  by  the  dread  of  the  expected 
wrath,  and  the  thing  has  turned  out  directly  oppo- 
site to  what  the  devil  wished,  by  the  means  which 
he  had  himself  prepared.  For  our  city  every  day 
becomes  more  purified,  and  the  lanes,  and  cross- 
ings, and  places  of  public  concourse  are  freed  from 
lewd  and  effeminate  songs,  and  turn  where  we  will 
there  are  supplications,  and  thanksgivings,  and 
tears,  instead  of  rude  laughter ;  there  are  words  of 
sound  wisdom,  instead  of  obscene  language,  and 
our  whole  city  has  become  a  church,  the  workshops 
being  closed,  all  being  engaged  throughout  the  day 
in  these  general  prayers,  and  calling  upon  God  with 
much  earnestness  with  one  united  voice.  What 
preaching,  what  admonition,  what  counsel,  what 
length  of  time  had  ever  availed  to  accomplish  these 
things  ?  " — Horn,  xv,  i. 

6.  "  And  as  soon  as  he  came  to  that  great  city, 
and  had  entered  the  royal  palace,  he  stood  before 
the  emperor  at  a  distance — speechless,  weeping, 
with  downcast  eyes — covering  his  face,  as  if  he  him- 
self had  been  the  doer  of  all  the  mischiefs ;  and  this 
he  did,  wishing  first  to  incline  him  to  mercy  by  his 
posture,  and  aspect,  and  tears,  and  then  to  begin 
an  apology  on  our  behalf;  since  there  is  but  one 
hope  of  pardon  for  those  who  have  offended,  which 
is  to  be  silent,  and  to  utter  nothing  in  defense  of 
what  has  been  done.  For  he  was  desirous  that  one 
feeling  should  be  got  rid  of,  and  that  another  should 
take  its  place ;  that  anger  should  be  expelled,  and 
sadness  introduced,  in  order  that  he  might  thus 
prepare  the  way  for  the  words  of  his  apology.  .  .  . 
The  emperor,  therefore,  when  he  saw  him  shedding 
tears,  and  bending  toward  the  ground,  himself  drew 
near,  and  what  he  really  felt,  on  seeing  the  tears  of 
the  priest,  he  made  evident  by  the  words  he  ad- 
dressed to  him  ;  for  they  were  not  those  of  a  per- 


1 78  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

son  provoked  or  inflamed,  but  of  one  in  sorrow; 
not  of  one  enraged,  but  rather  dejected,  and  under 
constraint  of  extreme  pain." 

[The  emperor  pleaded  his  benefactions  to  the 
city  and  his  declared  purpose  to  visit  it,  and  urged 
that  he  had  not  deserved  such  unkind  treatment. 
The  bishop  responded  in  words  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing are  taken :] 

"  We  must  confess,  O  emperor,  this  love  which 
you  have  shown  toward  our  country.  We  can  not 
deny  it.  On  this  account  especially  we  mourn  that, 
thus  beloved  as  she  was,  the  demons  should  have 
envied  her,  and  that  we  should  have  appeared  un- 
grateful toward  her  benefactor,  and  have  provoked 
her  ardent  lover.  And  although  you  were  to  over- 
throw, although  you  were  to  burn,  although  you 
were  to  put  to  death,  or  whatever  else  you  might 
do,  you  would  never  yet  have  taken  on  us  the  re- 
venge we  deserve.  We  ourselves  have,  by  antici- 
pation, inflicted  on  ourselves  a  thousand  deaths. 
For  what  can  be  more  bitter  than  when  we  are 
found  to  have  unjustly  provoked  our  benefactor, 
and  one  who  loved  us  so  much,  and  the  whole 
world  knows  it  and  sets  us  down  for  the  most  mon- 
strous ingratitude.?  .   .  . 

"  But  yet,  O  emperor,  if  you  are  willing,  there  is 
a  remedy  for  the  wound,  and  a  medicine  for  these 
evils,  mighty  as  they  are.  Often,  indeed,  has  it  oc- 
curred among  private  individuals  that  great  and 
insufferable  offenses  have  become  a  foundation  for 
great  affection.  Thus  also  did  it  happen  in  the 
case  of  our  kind.  For  when  God  made  man,  and 
placed  him  in  paradise,  and  held  him  in  much  honor, 
the  devil  could  not  bear  this  his  great  prosperity, 
and  envied  him,  and  cast  him  out  from  that  dignity 
which  had  been  granted.  But  God  was  so  far  from 
forsaking  him  that  he  even  opened  heaven  to  us 
instead   of  paradise,  and  in  so  doing  both  showed 


CHR  Y SOS  TOM.  179 

his  own  loving-kindness  and  punished  the  devil 
the  more  severely.  So,  now,  also  do  thou  !  The 
demons  have  lately  used  all  their  efforts,  that  they 
may  effectually  rend  from  your  favor  that  city  which 
was  dearest  of  all  to  you.  Knowing  this,  then,  de- 
mand what  penalty  you  will,  but  let  us  not  become 
outcasts  from  your  former  love  I  " — Horn.  xxii. 

TREATISES. 

The  treatises  of  Chrysostom  are  few  compared 
with  his  discourses,  and  with  one  exception  are  of 
minor  importance.  This  exception  is  his  celebrated 
work  on  the  priesthood. 

Chrysostom  on  the  Priesthood. 

The  work,  which  is  in  six  books,  is  arranged  in 
the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  Chrysostom  and  his 
friend  Basil.  The  friendship  of  these  two  had  been 
very  intimate,  and  Basil,  in  order  to  have  more  of 
the  companionship  of  Chrysostom,  who  at  that  time 
frequented  the  courts  and  the  stage,  proposed  that 
they  take  up  a  common  residence.  This  Chrysos- 
tom's  mother  strongly  opposed,  urging  how  much 
need  she,  a  widow,  had  of  her  son's  company. 
While  this  question  was  pending,  it  was  rumored 
that  both  the  friends  were  to  be  ordained  to  the 
priesthood,  a  report  which  awakened  in  Chrysos- 
tom great  fear  and  perplexity.  Nevertheless,  when 
his  friend  came  to  consult  about  it,  he  led  him  to 
think  that  he  should  not  avoid  ordination,  lest  Basil 
also  should  refuse,  and  through  this  deception  Basil 
was  ordained,  while  Chrysostom  was  not.  When  all 
was  known,  Basil  was  in  great  grief  over  his  friend's 
desertion ;  but  he  passed  over  his  personal  griev- 
ance in  his  great  anxiety  to  obtain  from  Chrysos- 
tom some  answer  which  he  might  make  to  the 
charges  which  men  wxre  making  that  he,  a  strip- 


i8o  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ling,  had  shown  arrogance  and  contumely  in  reject- 
ing an  office  which  older  and  wiser  men  might  have 
coveted.  First  answering  for  the  deception  of  his 
friend,  Chrysostom  says  that,  it  being  to  Basil's 
profit,  such  deceit  was  justifiable,  since  the  evil  of 
deceit  is  not  in  the  act  but  in  the  intent.  "  For 
deceit,  when  well-timed  and  practiced  with  a  right 
intention,  is  so  profitable  that  many  have  often  been 
punished  because  they  have  not  circumvented." 
This  principle  he  endeavors  to  sustain  by  illustra- 
tions from  military  and  medical  practice,  and  also 
from  Scripture  examples. 

Book  II.  Chrysostom  claims  that  by  his  course 
Basil  has  been  led  to  give  evidence  of  his  love  for 
Christ,  for  said  the  Lord  to  Peter,  "  Lovest  thou 
me?  "  and  when  he  assented,  then  said  he,  "Feed 
my  sheep."  This  work  of  feeding  the  sheep  can 
be  intrusted  only  to  men  who  are  pre-eminent  over 
their  fellows.  "  Let  the  distance  between  the  pas- 
tor and  his  charge  be  as  great  as  the  difference  be- 
tween rational  men  and  irrational  creatures,  that  I 
say  not  even  greater;  because  the  danger  affects 
much  greater  interests."  This  because  the  loss  to 
one  who  loses  his  sheep  is  the  loss  of  his  own  soul, 
and  because  his  enemies  are  very  terrible.  The 
priest  must  be  able  to  discern  men's  infirmities, 
and,  using  persuasion,  not  force,  he  must  not  be  too 
tender  nor  yet  too  severe,  so  holding  the  high- 
spirited  and  winning  back  the  scattered  sheep. 
Basil  asking  if,  then,  Chrysostom  does  not  love 
Christ,  he  replies  that  he  does,  but  that,  through 
his  weakness,  he  is  incompetent  for  such  a  high 
trust;  unskillful,  he  would  have  done  harm.  His 
friend,  on  the  other  hand,  he  says,  has  the  requisite 
love,  which  is  the  distinctive  Christian  mark,  and 
also  the  needed  prudence.  As  to  slights  given  to 
men  by  his  refusal  of  ordination,  Chrysostom  claims 
that  he  has  no  need  to  give  account  to  men  when  it 


CHRYSOSTOM.  i8i 

is  a  question  of  offending  God.  Still  he  has  not 
slighted,  but  has  the  rather  honored  them,  by  sav- 
ing them  from  charges  that,  passing  over  mature 
and  devoted  men  of  humble  rank  in  the  church, 
they  had  from  selfish  motives  laid  hands  upon  mere 
boys  fresh  from  secular  life. 

Book  III.  As  to  arrogance  in  declining  the 
priesthood,  Chrysostom  declares  the  charge  absurd ; 
for  he  deems  the  priesthood  of  as  much  greater 
dignity  than  a  kingship  as  the  spirit  is  greater  than 
the  flesh.  As  well  might  one  charge  human  nature 
with  pride  in  not  aspiring  to  the  dignity  of  angels. 
The  priestly  office,  though  exercised  on  earth,  was 
instituted  of  the  Paraclete,  and  is  a  tremendous 
trust.^  The  dignity  of  a  priest,  as  a  minister  of 
grace,  is  above  that  of  archangels.  For  the  priest 
binds  and  looses ;  eternal  life  and  the  escape  from 
Gehenna  are  made  dependent  upon  him."  Even 
Paul  was  fearful,  in  view  of  the  greatness  of  his 
rule.  What  ought  not  I,  incompetent,  to  fear! 
The  loss  to  be  incurred  by  the  unworthy  is  not  of 
property  but  of  souls,  in  the  abyss  of  fire.  Then, 
in  these  times,  when  so  many  madly  rush  into  the 
office  from  vain-glory,  one  to  be  fitted  for  the  office 
should  be  free  from  desire  for  place,  which  I  am 
not.  A  priest,  too,  should  be  sober-minded,  clear- 
sighted, myriad-eyed,  whereas  I  am  sluggish ;  I 
should,  too,  be  prone  to  anger  under  trials,  and  all 
are  ready  to  see  at  once  the  failings  of  a  priest  and 
to  thrust  him  down.  Besides,  a  priest  has  a  diffi- 
cult task  in  deciding  upon  the  promotion  of  others 
to  office ;  in  caring  for  widows,  and  dispensing  the 
treasures  of  the  church,  so  that  they  may  not  accu- 
mulate and  may  not  waste ;  in  the  watch-care  of 
virgins,  and  in  exercising  the  office  of  judge. 

Book  IV.    "  Had  you  rushed  into  the  ministry 

of  yourself,"  says  Basil,  "  you  might  then  have  been 

fearful."    "  Nay,"  responds  his  friend,"  the  not  de- 
i6 


i82  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

siring  the  office  will  be  no  excuse,  as  witness  the  case 
of  Saul  and  others.  Those  who  hastily  ordain  others 
are  truly  without  excuse,  for  they  do  not  so  buy  a 
slave.  Still  their  guilt  will  not  excuse  the  one  or- 
dained. And  how  great  is  the  trust  of  a  church  of 
Christ !  A  minister  must  have  great  powers  for  pub- 
lic discourse,  must  be  able  to  understand  and  repel 
all  heresies,  and  must  know  how  to  divert  men  from 
unprofitable  reasonings."  *'  But  Paul,"  says  Basil, 
"confesses  himself  to  be  mean  of  speech."  "Were 
this  so,"  Chrysostom  answers,  "  he  had  miraculous 
gifts  to  sustain  him ;  but  he  was  not  without  great 
power  in  speech,  for  he  was  abundantly  skilled  in 
doctrine.  His  eloquence  appears  everywhere  in  his 
speeches  and  his  epistles." 

Book  V.  Great  labor  must  be  given  by  the 
preacher  to  preparing  his  discourse,  and  he  must 
learn  to  despise  applause.  He  must  not  be  wholly 
unmindful  of  criticism,  nor  must  he  unduly  fear  it. 
The  learned  even  more  than  the  unlearned  must  be 
diligent,  as  so  much  is  demanded  of  them.  One 
should  not  be  too  much  dejected  by  the  want  of  ap- 
preciation by  the  ignorant.  Only  let  him  prepare 
his  discourse  with  a  sole  view  to  serving  God,  and 
forego  applause. 

Book  VI.  The  watchman  set  to  guard  the  peo- 
ple will  be  responsible  for  their  sins.  "  The  soul  of 
the  priest  should  be  purer  than  the  very  solar  rays, 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  never  leave  him  desolate, 
and  that  he  may  be  able  to  say,  '  I  live,  yet  not  I, 
but  Christ  liveth  in  me."*  He  must  be  more  cir- 
cumspect than  monks,  as  his  charge  is  so  much 
greater.  He  has  not  only  himself  but  the  world  to 
care  for.  What  a  man  should  he  not  be  to  pray  for 
the  world  ! "  To  exercise  this  office  one  must  be, 
not  indeed  a  worldling,  but  one  having  such  a 
knowledge  of  the  world  that  he  can  preserve  him- 
self in  his  integrity.     In  the  exercise  of  his  duties 


CHRYSOSTOM,  183 

no  part  must  be  neglected.  The  women  as  well  as 
the  men  must  be  conversed  with,  consoled,  and  re- 
buked. Nor  must  one  subject  himself  without  ex- 
planation to  any  suspicion  of  evil :  for  even  Paul 
took  precautions  against  being  called  a  thief.  "  But," 
says  Basil,  "  do  you,  who  have  avoided  this  office, 
think  you  can  save  yourself  without  trying  to  save 
others .''  "  "  Truly  not,"  is  the  reply,  "  yet  my  peril  is 
not  now  so  great  since  I  do  not  imperil  the  souls  of 
others.  In  my  retirement,  too,  I  am  measurably  se- 
cure from  the  outbreak  of  my  passions.  But,  beyond 
all  these  considerations,  my  shrinking  is  from  the 
grief  which  it  would  have  given  me  to  see  the  Church 
of  God  in  unworthy  hands.  That  were  like  one, 
espoused  to  the  fair  daughter  of  a  king,  seeing  her 
married  to  a  base  and  contemptible  servant.  It 
were  like  the  intrusting  of  a  great  military  and  naval 
armament,  confronted  by  fierce  and  powerful  ene- 
mies, to  the  command  of  a  country  stripling.  For 
me  to  have  taken  this  trust  would  have  been  to  be- 
come a  general  for  the  devil.  But  why,  my  friend, 
do  you  weep .-*  I  am  rather  to  be  congratulated." 
"  Yes,"  replies  Basil,  "  but  I .?  How  shall  I  answer 
for  myself?  You,  who  led  me  into  this  place,  do 
not  now  abandon  me."  "I  will  be  true  to  you," 
says  Chrysostom,  "  and  encourage  you  amid  your 
cares,  and  I  shall  hope  that  through  your  boldness 
in  the  ministry  you  may  receive  me  also  into  your 
eternal  tabernacle  if  I  am  in  danger  at  that  day." 

EXTRACTS. 

I.  "  The  priestly  office  is  discharged  upon  earth, 
but  holds  the  rank  of  heavenly  things,  and  very 
rightly  so.  For  not  man,  nor  angel,  nor  archangel, 
nor  any  other  created  power,  but  the  Paraclete  him- 
self instituted  this  order,  and  induced  those  who 
yet  abode  in  the  flesh  to  make  manifest  the  minis- 


1 84  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

try  of  angels.  Wherefore  it  behooves  him  that  is 
consecrated  to  be  pure  as  one  who  stands  in  heaven 
itself  among  those  powers. 

"  For  when  you  behold  the  Lord  sacrificed  and 
prostrate,  and  the  priest  standing  over  the  sacrifice 
and  praying,  and  all  stained  with  that  precious 
blood,  do  you  then  suppose  you  are  among  men 
and  standing  upon  earth  }  are  you  not  immediately 
transported  to  heaven }  and  casting  out  every  car- 
nal idea  from  your  soul,  do  you  not  with  naked 
soul  and  pure  mind  contemplate  things  which  are 
in  heaven  }  O  the  marvel !  O  the  love  of  God  to 
man !  He  who  sits  with  the  Father  on  high  is  at 
that  moment  held  in  the  hands  of  all,  and  gives 
himself  to  those  who  are  willing  to  embrace  him 
and  receive  him,  and  then  all  do  this  by  the  eyes 
[of  faith].  Do  these  things  appear  to  you  to  be 
worthy  to  be  despised,  or  to  be  such  that  any  one 
can  be  lifted  up  against  them  }  " — Book  II I^  chap, 
iv. 

2.  "  For  if  no  one  can  enter  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  except  he  be  regenerated  by  water  and  the 
Spirit,  and  if  he  who  does  not  eat  the  flesh  of  the 
Lord,  and  drink  his  blood,  is  excluded  from  eternal 
life,  and  if  these  things  are  accomplished  only  by 
those  holy  hands,  the  priests  I  mean,  how  will  any 
one  be  able  without  them  to  escape  the  fire  of  Ge- 
henna, or  to  obtain  the  crowns  which  are  in  store  ?  " 
— Book  III,  chap.  V. 

3.  "  What  a  man  ought  he  to  be  who  is  embas- 
sador for  a  whole  city — and  why  do  I  say  for  a 
city  }  for  all  the  world  ! — and  who  prays  that  God 
will  be  propitious  to  the  sins  of  all  men,  not  of  the 
living  only,  but  of  the  departed  }  I  do  not  think 
the  boldness  of  speech  of  Moses  and  of  Elijah  by 
any  means  adequate  to  such  supplication.  For  he 
draws  nigh  to  God,  as  though  the  whole  world  were 
committed  to  his  care,  and  he  himself  the  father  of 


CHR  YSOSTOM.  185 

all  men,  praying  that  wars  may  be  extinguished  every- 
where, and  that  troubles  may  be  brought  to  an  end, 
and  entreating  for  every  man  peace  and  prosperity, 
and  speedy  deliverance  from  impending  evils,  both 
privately  and  publicly.  And  he  must  in  all  things 
excel  all  for  whom  he  prays,  as  much  as  the  ruler 
must  excel  the  ruled. 

"  If  he  has  invoked  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  per- 
formed that  most  awful  sacrifice,  and  constantly 
touched  with  his  hands  the  common  Lord  of  all, 
tell  me  where  we  shall  rank  him  ?  What  purity  and 
what  piety  shall  we  demand  of  him }  for  consider 
what  his  hands  ought  to  be  which  minister  these 
things !  what  his  tongue  which  utters  such  words ! 
and  what  should  be  so  pure  and  holy  as  his  soul 
which  receives  so  great  a  Spirit ! 

"  Angels  are  there  present  with  the  priest,  and 
the  whole  tribune  and  space  around  the  altar  is 
filled  with  heavenly  powers  in  honor  of  him  that 
is  there." — Book  VI ^  chap.  iv. 

LETTERS. 

The  extant  letters  of  Chrysostom,  two  hundred 
and  twenty-five  in  number,  were  written  during  his 
exile,  and  are  chiefly  letters  of  friendship.  Among 
them,  however,  is  a  circular  letter  addressed  to  the 
bishops  of  Rome,  of  Milan,  and  of  Aquileia,  be- 
speaking their  good  offices  toward  securing  a  new 
and  fair  judgment  upon  his  cause.  There  is  also  a 
series  of  seventeen  letters  to  one  Olympias,  a  widow, 
in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  his  persecutions. 

Principal  Works. 

Homiletical:  The  principal  sermons  have  already 
been  described.  Treatises  :  "  Six  Books  of  the  Priest- 
hood " ;  three  books  "  In  Defense  of  a  Monastic  Life  " ; 
a  "  Comparison  of  a  Monk  with  a  Prince  " ;  two  books 


1 86  POST-NICE iVE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

"  Of  Compunction  of  Heart " ;  three  books  "  Of  Provi- 
dence "  ;  a  book  *'  Of  Virginity  "  ;  two  exhortations  "  To 
Theodorus,"  in  which  he  urges  this  person  to  return  from 
a  secular  to  a  retired  life  ;  a  few  minor  works  ;  LETTERS  : 
two  hundred  and  twenty-five,  written  in  exile. 


SYNESIUS. 


A  Platonic  philosopher  of  Cyrene,  Synesius 
was  converted  and,  in  420,  chosen  bishop  of  Ptole- 
mais,  the  chief  city  of  the  Pentapolis.  He  was 
with  difficulty  persuaded  to  take  the  office,  urging 
his  philosophic  habits  and  his  unfitness  for  admin- 
istrative duties,  as  well  as  his  dissent  from  some  of 
the  beliefs  of  the  Church.  Besides  holding  the 
Origenistic  belief  in  the  pre-existence  of  souls,  and 
some  other  peculiar  doctrines,  he  did  not  believe  in 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  in  the  literal  sense  in 
which  this  doctrine  was  held  by  the  Church.  Not- 
withstanding this  dissent,  and  his  unwillingness  to 
leave  his  wife,  the  churches  felt  so  much  the  need 
of  his  strength  that  he  was  ordained,  and  he  became 
a  bishop  whose  integrity  and  faithfulness  was  un- 
surpassed. His  few  treatises  are  rather  philosoph- 
ical and  rhetorical  than  theological.  They  are  a 
very  frank  discourse  "  Of  Reigning  well,"  pro- 
nounced before  the  Emperor  Arcadius ;  a  discourse 
in  praise  of  philosophy  and  astronomy,  and  another 
defending  the  study  of  poetry  and  rhetoric ;  an  in- 
genious work  entitled  "  The  Praise  of  Baldness  "; 
two  books  "  Of  Providence,"  containing  a  romance 
of  two  brothers,  Osiris  and  Tytion,  kings  of  Egypt ; 
and  a  bock  "On  Dreams."     We  have  also  numer- 


SYNESIUS.  187 

ous  letters  of  Synesius,  a  few  of  which  are  upon 
ecclesiastical  subjects,  and  ten  hymns  or  odes.  We 
give  the  more  space  to  this  poetry,  since  Mrs. 
Browning  has  recorded  her  opinion  that  Synesius 
was  "  the  chief,  for  true  and  natural  gifts,  of  all  our 
Greek  Christian  poets."  The  spirit  and  style  of 
the  odes  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  close 
rendering  by  Mrs.  Browning  of  a  part  of  the  ninth  : 

ODE. 

"  Well-beloved  and  glory-laden, 
Born  of  Solyma's  pure  maiden  ! 
I  would  hymn  thee,  blessed  Warden, 
Driving  from  thy  Father's  garden 
Blinking  serpent's  crafty  lust. 
With  his  bruised  head  in  dust ! 
Down  thou  camest,  low  as  earth, 
Bound  to  those  of  mortal  birth ; 
Down  thou  camest,  low  as  hell. 
Where  shepherd-death  did  tend  and  keep 
A  thousand  nations  like  to  sheep, 
While  weak  with  age,  old  Hades  fell 
Shivering  through  his  dark  to  view  thee ! 
And  the  dog  did  backward  yell, 
With  jaws  all  gory,  to  let  through  thee ! 
So,  redeeming  from  their  pain 
Choirs  of  disembodied  ones. 
Thou  didst  lead  whom  thou  didst  gather, 
Upward  in  ascent  again. 
With  a  great  hymn  to  the  Father 
Upward  to  the  pure  white  thrones ! 
King,  the  demon  tribes  of  air 
Shuddered  back  to  feel  thee  there ! 
And  the  holy  stars  stood  breathless, 
Trembling  in  their  chorus  deathless ; 
A  low  laughter  filled  ether — 


i88  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Harmony's  most  subtle  sire 
From  the  seven  strings  of  his  lyre, 
Stroked  a  measured  music  hither— 
lo  paean  !  victory  !  " 


THEODORE  OF  MOPSUESTIA, 

An  illustrious  victim  of  a  hypercritical  ortho- 
doxy. Like  Chrysostom,  with  whom  he  was  a  fel- 
low-pupil of  Libanius  and  afterward  of  Diodorus, 
Theodore  was  the  son  of  an  Antiochian  family  of 
high  station.  Made  a  priest,  he  won  the  applause 
of  his  native  city  and,  later,  of  Tarsus,  by  his  learn- 
ing and  eloquence.  About  a.  d.  390  he  was  chosen 
bishop  of  Mopsuestia  in  Cilicia,  which  see  he  held 
until  his  death,  about  a.  d.  427.  He  is  said  to  have 
been  a  teacher  of  Nestorius,  and  also  to  have  or- 
dained him ;  but,  whether  or  not  this  was  true,  he 
belonged  to  the  same  school  of  thought  with  Nes- 
torius and  Theodoret.  His  writings  were  numer- 
ous, embracing  commentaries  on  nearly  the  entire 
Scriptures,  besides  voluminous  treatises  upon  doc- 
trinal and  polemical  subjects.  What  Chrysostom 
did  for  the  right  interpretation  of  Scripture  by 
homilies,  that  and  more  Theodore  did  by  his  com- 
mentaries and  by  his  treatise  "  Of  History  and  Al- 
legory against  Origen."  His  writings,  more  than 
any  one's  else  save  Theodoret's,  put  an  end  to  the 
extravagances  of  Scripture  allegorizing.  But  The- 
odore was  to  be  placed  by  posterity,  not  by  the  side 
of  Chrysostom,  but  of  Nestorius  and  Theodoret. 
Whereas  the  cloud  resting  upon  Chrysostom  at  his 


THEOPHILUS.  189 

death  was  changed  by  the  next  generation  into  a 
halo  of  glory,  four  generations  after  Theodore's 
death  his  person  and  writings  were  formally  con- 
demned as  heretical.  This  was  done  first  by  an 
edict  of  the  Emperor  Justinian  and  then  by  the 
Fifth  General  Council.  The  ostensible  ground  of 
this  action  was  certain  suggestions  of  heresy  in  his 
writings,  which,  however,  were  so  meager  that  they 
had  been  passed  over  by  his  own  contemporaries. 
The  real  cause  of  the  condemnation  was  the  rancor- 
ous spirit  of  the  monophysite  party,  which  had 
chafed  many  years  under  the  action  of  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  and  now,  having  gained  a  temporary 
influence  through  the  intrigues  of  the  empress,  was 
eager  to  brand  the  memory  of  all  who  had  been  in 
any  way  allied  with  Nestorius.  Owing,  probably,  to 
this  condemnation,  the  works  of  Theodore  are  al- 
most entirely  lost.  But  the  narrow  horizon  of  Jus- 
tinian and  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  sixth  century  was 
not  forever  to  bound  the  Church,  and  modern  schol- 
ars would  gladly  exchange  whole  alcoves  of  the 
monkish  lore  of  his  late  enemies  for  the  works  of 
this  Antiochian  exegete. 


THEOPHILUS. 


"  A  GOOD  politician,  but  an  ill  author."  He  ob- 
tains special  mention  only  as  the  enemy  of  Chrys- 
ostom,  and  uncle  and  trainer  of  Cyril.  Made  bish- 
op of  Alexandria,  a.  d.  385,  he  abolished  the  last 
traces  of  idolatry  in  that  city  by  pulling  down  the 
remaining  temples  and  idols.     His  principal  writ- 


igo  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ings  were  a  treatise  against  Origen,  a  book  against 
the  Anthropomorphites,  and  a  treatise  for  the  monks 
of  Scitha  against  Chrysostom,  all  of  which  are  lost. 
We  have  of  his  works  only  a  few  letters  and  frag- 
ments. 


CYRIL  OF  ALEXANDRIA, 

The  Anathematizer.  Inheriting  the  spirit  of  his 
uncle  with  his  office,  Cyril  marked  his  accession 
to  the  see  of  Alexandria,  in  412,  by  seizing  upon 
the  churches  and  church  property  of  the  Novatians. 
Soon  afterward,  the  Jews  of  the  city  having  done 
some  wrong  to  the  Christians,  he  put  himself  at  the 
head  of  a  mob  of  infuriated  monks,  who  assaulted 
the  synagogues  and  then  sacked  and  plundered  the 
whole  Jewish  quarter,  driving  many  thousands  of 
the  Jews  from  the  city.  A  quarrel  with  Orestes, 
the  governor,  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
latter  was  set  upon  in  the  streets  by  a  multitude  of 
monks,  and  only  escaped  by  the  opportune  inter- 
vention of  some  of  the  people.  One  of  the  monks, 
who  had  wounded  Orestes  with  a  stone,  was  put  to 
death  on  the  rack,  whereupon  he  was  immediately 
canonized  by  Cyril  as  a  saint  and  a  martyr.  But 
this  was  not  the  worst.  Hypatia,  the  celebrated 
teacher  of  philosophy  in  Alexandria,  was  a  friend 
of  Orestes,  and  it  was  suspected  that  she  encour- 
aged his  animosity  toward  Cyril.  Accordingly,  the 
mob  from  which  he  had  escaped  attacked  her  in  the 
streets.  Socrates  says  :  "  Observing  her,  as  she  re- 
turned home  in  her  carriage,  they  dragged  her  from 
it  and  carried  her  to  the  church  called  Caesareum, 


CYRIL   OF  ALEXANDRIA.  191 

where  they  completely  stripped  her,  and  then  mur- 
dered her  with  shells.  After  tearing  her  body  in 
pieces,  they  took  her  mangled  limbs  to  a  place  called 
Cinaron  and  there  burned  them."  This  atrocious 
outrage,  for  which  Cyril  was,  at  the  least  indirectly, 
responsible,  gives  a  key  to  the  spirit  with  which 
Cyril  dealt  with  those  who  opposed  him.  It  ex- 
plains his  malignant  hostility  to  Nestorius.  The 
latter  having  declined  to  accept  the  doctrine  of  one 
nature  in  Christ,  or  to  approve  of  the  term  "  Mother 
of  God,"  Cyril  launched  against  him  twelve  anathe- 
mas. Others  at  that  time  dealt  in  anathemas.  Pope 
Celestine  and  Nestorius  himself  having  issued  them, 
but  no  one  breathed  them  as  his  native  air  like  Cyril, 
and,  of  all  ecclesiastical  haters,  none  so  merits  the 
name  of  the  Anathematizer.  At  the  Council  of 
Ephesus,  he  proceeded  against  Nestorius  without 
waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the  Eastern  bishops,  and 
afterward  he  would  listen  to  no  compromise  which 
did  not  involve  Nestorius's  condemnation.  But, 
rapacious,  immoderately  ambitious,  "  the  worst  of 
heretics  against  the  spread  of  the  gospel,"  and  re- 
solved, as  he  was,  that  "  if  the  meek  inherit  the 
earth,  the  violent  should  have  possession  of  the 
sees  "  (!)  Cyril  was  a  very  distinguished  man  in  his 
age,  and,  according  to  the  standards  of  his  day,  a 
great  theologian.  He  aspired  to  be  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Person  of  Christ  what  Athanasius  had  been 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  He  was,  however — 
deservedly — the  last  conspicuous  representative  of 
the  Alexandrian  church  and  theology. 

His  works,  which  fill   ten   volumes  of   Migne, 
consist  of  commentaries,  paschal  homilies,  sermons, 


192  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

and  letters,  chiefly  against  Nestorius,  and  various 
theological  treatises. 

COMMENTARIES. 

Besides  fragments  upon  almost  every  part  of 
Scripture,  we  have  elaborate  commentaries  on  the 
Pentateuch,  on  Isaiah,  on  the  twelve  minor  proph- 
ets, and  on  John.  That  upon  the  Pentateuch,  enti- 
tled "  Glaphyra,"  is  of  the  extreme  allegorical  order, 
referring  every  point  of  the  history  and  every  cir- 
cumstance or  precept  in  some  way  to  Christ,  or  to 
the  New  Testament.  Those  upon  the  prophets  are 
more  rational,  dealing  more  with  the  natural  sense 
of  the  text.  The  commentary  upon  John,  which  is 
very  full,  deals  somewhat  with  the  theological  topics 
of  the  times. 

LETTERS. 

As  mentioned,  these  are  devoted  very  largely  to 
the  Nestorian  controversy,  but  they  also  refer  to 
most  of  the  ecclesiastical  events  of  Cyril's  day. 
They  contain  long  historical  and  theological  disqui- 
sitions, sent  out  for  the  enlightenment  of  various  of 
the  bishops,  or  of  the  clergy  or  people  of  Alexan- 
dria. One  of  these  letters,  which  begins,  "  Cyril 
and  the  synod  assembled  at  Alexandria,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Egypt,  to  their  fellow-minister  Nestorius, 
most  pious  and  well-beloved  of  Gcd,  greeting  in 
the  Lord,"  closes  with  the  famous  twelve  anathemas 
of  Cyril,  which  are  here  given. 

Cyril 's  Anathemas  against  Nestorius. 

1.  If  any  one  does  not  confess  that  Emmanuel 
is  truly  God,  and  that,  therefore,  the  holy  Virgin  is 
the  Mother  of  God— since  she  brought  forth  accord- 
ing to  the  flesh  the  incarnate  Word  of  God— let  him 
be  accursed. 

2.  If  any  one  does  not  confess  that  the  Word  of 


CYRIL   OF  ALEXANDRIA.  193 

God  the  Father,  being  hypostatically  united  to  the 
flesh,  is  one  Christ  with  his  own  flesh,  the  same  be- 
ing at  once  and  indisputably  God  and  man,  let  him 
be  accursed. 

3.  If  any  one  divides  the  hypostases  in  the  one 
Christ  after  their  union,  joining  them  only  with  a 
union  according  to  honor,  that  is  to  say  by  author- 
ity or  power,  and  not  rather  by  a  natural  union,  let 
him  be  accursed. 

4.  If  any  one  apportions  to  two  persons  or  hy- 
postases that  which  is  spoken  in  the  evangelical  or 
apostolical  scriptures  either  by  holy  men  concern- 
ing Christ  or  by  him  concerning  himself,  and  as- 
signs these  to  him  as  man  considered  separately 
from  the  Word  of  God,  and  those  to  him  only  as 
the  divine  Word  of  God,  let  him  be  accursed. 

5.  If  any  one  dares  to  say  that  Christ  is  a  God- 
bearing  man,  and  not  rather  the  true  God,  as  being 
the  only  and  natural  Son,  seeing  that  the  Word  truly 
was  made  flesh,  and,  alike  with  us,  has  been  a  par- 
taker of  flesh  and  blood,  let  him  be  accursed. 

6.  If  any  one  dares  to  say  that  the  Word  of 
God  the  Father  is  God  or  Lord  of  Christ,  and  does 
not  the  rather  confess  him  at  once  God  and  man, 
the  Word  having  become  flesh,  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  let  him  be  accursed. 

7.  If  any  one  says  that  as  man  Jesus  was  ener- 
gized by  God  the  Word,  and  was  clothed  with  the 
glory  of  the  Only  Begotten,  as  being  another  than 
he,  let  him  be  accursed. 

8.  If  any  one  shall  dare  to  say  that  the  man- 
hood assumed  ought  to  be  adored  together  with  God 
the  Word,  and  jointly  with  him  to  be  extolled  and 
entitled  God,  as  one  in  another  (for  whenever  with 
is  employed  it  compels  this  understanding),  and 
does  not  the  rather  adore  Emmanuel  with  a  sole 
honor,  and  ascribe  to  him  a  single  doxology,  as  be- 
ing the  Word  become  flesh,  let  him  be  accursed. 

17 


194  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS, 

9.  If  any  one  says  that  the  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  has  been  glorified  by  the  Spirit  as  being  en- 
dowed with  another  power  than  his  own,  and  that 
having  received  ability  from  him,  he  has  power  over 
evil  spirits  and  works  miracles  among  men,  and 
does  not  the  rather  say  that  it  is  his  own  Spirit  by 
which  he  works  miracles,  let  him  be  accursed. 

10.  The  holy  Scriptures  declare  that  Christ  was 
the  high-priest  and  apostle  of  our  confession,  and 
gave  himself  for  us  as  a  sweet-smelling  savor  unto 
God  the  Father.  If,  therefore,  any  one  says  that 
the  Word  of  God  himself  did  not  become  our  high- 
priest  and  apostle  when  he  became  flesh  and  man 
for  us,  but  that  it  was  another  than  he,  the  man 
born  of  a  woman ;  or  if  any  one  says  that  for  him- 
self also  he  presented  this  offering  and  not  for  us 
only  (for  he  who  knew  no  sin  had  no  need  of  an 
offering),  let  him  be  accursed. 

11.  If  any  one  does  not  confess  the  flesh  of  the 
Lord  to  be  life-giving,  and  appropriate  to  the  Word 
of  God  the  Father  himself,  but  as  belonging  to 
some  other  than  he  united  with  him  in  honor,  that 
is  to  say,  merely  possessing  a  divine  dwelling,  and 
not  the  rather  life-giving  as  we  have  said,  so  that  it 
became  appropriate  to  the  Word  v/ho  is  able  to  give 
life  to  all  things,  let  him  be  accursed. 

12.  If  any  one  does  not  confess  that  the  Word 
of  God  suffered  according  to  the  flesh,  in  the  flesh 
was  crucified,  in  the  flesh  tasted  of  death,  and  be- 
came the  first-born  from  the  dead,  so  that  he  is  the 
life  and  as  God  life-giving,  let  him  be  accursed. — 
Epistle  ocvii^  Cyril  to  Nestorius. 


TREATISES. 

The  principal  treatises  of  Cyril  were  a  "  The- 
saurus "  upon  the  Trinity  ;  seven  dialogues  upon 
the   Trinity,  and   two  upon   the  Incarnation ;   five 


CYRIL   OF  ALEXANDRIA.  195 

books  against  Nestorius ;  an  explanation  of  and  an 
apology  for  his  Twelve  Chapters  against  Nestorius ; 
an  apology  for  Christianity  against  the  attack  of  the 
Emperor  Julian ;  and  seventeen  books  "  Of  God's 
Worship  in  the  Spirit."  The  last,  which  is  the  most 
considerable,  is  deserving  of  notice  as  representing 
the  Alexandrian  idea  of  Scripture  interpretation. 
Following  is  an  outline  of  the  work  as  given  by  Du 
Pin: 

Of  God's  Worship  in  the  Spirit. 

The  work  is  composed  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue, 
and  its  design  is  to  show  that  the  law  of  Moses,  as 
well  as  the  precepts  and  all  the  ceremonies  which  it 
prescribes,  being  understood  aright,  relate  to  the 
adoration  of  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  which  the 
gospel  hath  discovered.  To  prove  this  proposition, 
the  author  seeks  out  all  the  allegories  in  the  his- 
tories of  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  first  book  he 
shows  that  that  which  happened  to  Adam,  Abra- 
ham, and  Lot  teaches  men  how  they  fall  into  sin, 
and  after  what  manner  they  may  raise  themselves 
again.  The  pleasure  which  allures  them  is  figured 
by  the  woman,  by  the  delights  of  Egypt,  by  earthly 
good  things ;  the  grace  of  our  Saviour  by  the  call- 
ing of  Abraham,  by  the  protection  which  God  vouch- 
safed Lot,  by  the  care  which  he  takes  of  his  people ; 
lastly,  repentance,  flight  from  sin,  love  of  virtue, 
by  the  actions  of  the  ancient  patriarchs.  In  the 
second  and  third,  he  makes  use  of  several  places  of 
the  law  to  show  that  the  fall  of  man  could  not  be 
repaired  but  by  the  coming  of  Jesus  Christ;  that 
he  alone  can  deliver  him  from  the  lamentable  con- 
sequences of  sin,  which  are  death,  the  tyranny  of 
the  devil,  an  inclination  to  evil  and  concupiscence ; 
lastly,  that  he  alone  can  redeem  and  justify  men. 
He  finds  baptism  and  redemption  by  Jesus  Christ 
figured  in  many  places  of  the  law  and  prophets. 
In  the   fourth,  he  uses  the  exhortations,  promises, 


196  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

and  threatenings  laid  down  in  the  law  to  incline 
Christians,  whom  Jesus  Christ  hath  redeemed,  to 
follow  their  callings,  renounce  vice,  and  embrace 
virtue.  In  the  fifth,  he  affirms  that  the  constancy 
and  courage  of  the  ancients  in  suffering  evils  and 
opposing  their  enemies  is  a  figure  of  the  strength 
and  vigor  with  which  Christians  ought  to  resist  their 
vices  and  irregular  passions.  In  the  sixth,  he  dem- 
onstrates that  the  law  commands  the  worship  and 
love  of  one  God  only,  and  that  it  hath  condemned 
all  superstitions  and  profaneness  contrary  to  that 
worship.  In  the  two  following  books  he  also  pre- 
scribes charity  toward  our  brethren  and  love  toward 
our  neighbor.  In  the  ninth  and  the  tenth,  he  finds 
infinite  resemblances  between  the  tabernacle  and 
the  church.  The  priesthood  of  the  old  law,  the 
consecration  of  the  high-priests,  the  sacerdotal  vest- 
ments, the  ministry  of  the  Levites,  etc.,  furnish  him 
with  abundance  of  matter  for  allegories,  which  he 
treats  of  in  the  three  following  books.  The  pro- 
fane and  unclean  persons  under  the  law,  who.  were 
shut  out  of  the  tabernacle  and  temple,  are  the  fig- 
ure of  sinners,  which  ought  to  be  expelled  out  of 
churches,  and  do  teach  us  that  none  but  those  that 
are  pure  may  present  themselves  before  God.  Clean 
and  unclean  beasts  are  the  subjects  of  some  alle- 
gories, being  the  subject  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth books.  Lastly,  the  obligations  and  sacrifices 
of  the  law  are  types  of  the  spiritual  obligations 
which  we  ought  to  offer  to  God,  and  the  solemn  fes- 
tivals of  the  Jews  denote  to  us  the  celestial  rewards 
— this  is  the  subject  of  the  last  two  books.  It  is 
easy  to  judge,  by  what  we  have  said,  how  mystical  a 
work  this  is,  and  how  full  of  allegorical  and  unusual 
explications.  He  must  needs  have  an  inexhaust- 
ible fund  of  them  to  furnish  out  seventeen  books  so 
long  as  these  are,  which  are  all  along  carried  on 
with  continual  allegories. 


NESTORIUS.  197 

NESTORIUS. 

An  An-tiochian  by  training,  Nestorius  was,  about 
A.  D.  428,  made  bishop  of  Constantinople,  where  he 
distinguished  himself  for  his  zeal  against  heretics. 
By  publicly  rejecting  the  use  of  the  phrase  "  Mother 
of  God,"  as  applied  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  he  drew 
upon  himself  the  hatred  and  anathemas  of  Cyril, 
Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  believed  in  one  only 
nature  in  Christ,  and  who  now  made  himself  the 
champion  of  the  rejected  phrase.  To  his  anathe- 
mas, Nestorius  rejoined  with  counter-anathemas. 
Out  of  the  controversy  came  the  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus,  by  which  Nestorius  was  condemned  and  de- 
posed as  a  heretic.  He  at  once  retired  to  his  old 
monastery  near  Antioch.  The  doctrine  which  he 
had  supported  and  on  account  of  which  he  was 
condemned — viz.,  that  the  Word  was  united  to  a 
human  nature  in  Christ,  and  that  these  two  natures, 
being  united  together,  make  but  one  Christ,  one 
Son  only,  and  likewise  one  Person  only,  made  up 
of  two  natures — was  an  outcome  of  the  Antiochian 
habit  of  thought,  and  his  condemnation  was  against 
the  will  of  the  Eastern  bishops.  Nevertheless,  to 
effect  a  peace  in  the  Church,  a  compromise  was  at 
last  arranged  between  John  of  Antioch  and  Cyril, 
the  terms  of  which  were  that  Cyril  subscribed  a 
creed  written  by  John,  and  that  John,  on  behalf  of 
the  Eastern  bishops,  subscribed  the  condemnation 
of  Nestorius.  This  abandonment  of  Nestorius, 
simply  because  it  seemed  politic,  was  deemed  a 
cruel  treachery  by  some  of  the  bishops,  who,  rather 
than  approve  of  it,  submitted  to  be  banished.    Nes- 


igS  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

torius  himself,  in  435,  was  by  imperial  command 
banished  to  the  Greater  Oasis  in  Upper  Egypt,  in 
which  exile,  after  various  sufferings,  he  died.  By 
an  imperial  edict,  his  books  were  condemned  to  be 
burned,  and  all  persons  were  forbidden  to  read  them. 
From  the  few  letters  and  fragments  of  his  writings 
preserved  in  the  works  of  others,  he  would  appear 
to  have  been  a  thoroughly  orthodox  believer,  and 
none  claimed  that  he  was  not  a  good  man.  The 
annals  of  religious  controversy  can  not  furnish  a 
more  shameless  abandonment  of  a  man  by  interested 
brethren  who,  at  heart,  believed  as  he  believed. 


THEODORET. 

The  "  Blessed  Theodoret  "  is  the  hesitating  title 
which  the  Church  has  bestowed  upon  this  father, 
while  granting  to  his  antagonist  Cyril  the  full  hon- 
ors of  a  saint.  Be  it  so ;  but  men  still  have  their 
opinions  as  to  the  comparative  saintliness  of  the  two 
men,  which  opinions  are  not  in  favor  of  the  saint. 
Theodoret's  name,  the  "  Gift  of  God,"  was  bestowed 
by  his  mother,  who  received  his  birth — at  Antioch, 
A.  D.  386 — as  a  special  answer  to  prayer,  and  conse- 
crated him  from  his  infancy  to  the  service  of  God. 
As  a  child  he  was  much  under  the  influence  of  holy 
men  who  had  counseled  his  mother,  particularly  of 
a  monk,  Peter,  to  whom  he  was  often  taken  to  re- 
ceive his  blessing.  We  are  told  that  he  was  entered 
at  the  monastery  of  Euprepius,  near  Antioch,  when 
only  seven  years  of  age;  though  he  would  seem  to 
have  lived  for  the  most  part  with  his  parents  until 


THEODORE  T.  199 

twenty-three  years  old.  But,  if  not  a  constant  in- 
mate of  this  biblical  school  of  Antioch,  Theodoret 
grew  up  in  its  atmosphere,  and  was  imbued  with  the 
principles  of  Diodorus,  and  Theodore,  and  Chrys- 
ostom.  After  the  death  of  his  parents  he  distrib- 
uted his  fortune  to  the  poor,  and  went  to  a  monas- 
tery at  some  distance  from  Antioch.  There  he  re- 
mained seven  years,  when  he  was  made  bishop  of 
Cyrus,  a  small  and  secluded  city  on  the  Euphrates. 
Though  unattractive  as  a  home,  his  diocese,  which 
included  eight  hundred  villages,  gave  him  abundant 
room  for  labors,  which  he  performed  with  self-sacri- 
ficing zeal.  Besides  discharging  faithfully  his  dio- 
cesan duties,  both  as  to  spiritual  and  temporal  con- 
cerns, he  was  frequently  summoned  to  Antioch, 
where  he  preached  with  great  eclat  before  the  most 
cultivated  audiences.  But  Theodoret  is  known  to 
the  world  not  so  much  as  Bishop  of  Cyrus,  or  as 
a  great  preacher,  as  by  the  commentaries  which  he 
wrote,  and  for  the  part  which  he  took,  by  voice  and 
pen,  in  the  Nestorian  controversy.  Cyril's  twelve 
chapters  and  anathemas  launched  against  Nestorius 
were  equally  in  opposition  to  the  whole  Antiochian 
school,  and  Nestorius  naturally  looked  to  the  schol- 
ars of  Antioch  for  help.  Theodoret  was  the  man 
for  the  emergency,  and,  stepping  to  the  front,  he 
became,  above  patriarch  and  metropolitans,  the  real 
leader  of  the  Oriental  bishops  in  their  opposition  to 
the  Egyptians.  He  wrote  a  reply  to  Cyril's  chap- 
ters, accusing  them  of  Apollinarian  heresy.  He 
was  one  of  the  bishops  at  the  Council  of  Ephesus, 
and  among  the  deputies  sent  by  them  to  Constan- 
tinople.    When,  later,  John  of  Antioch  arranged  a 


200  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

peace  with  Cyril,  Theodoret,  while  agreeing  to  the 
theological  settlement,  refused  to  sanction  Nestori- 
us's  condemnation.  Holding  a  place  midway  be- 
tween those  who  weakly  yielded  everything  to  Cyril 
and  those  who  would  yield  nothing,  he  conserved 
and  strengthened  the  Antiochian  spirit,  so  much 
needed  by  the  Church,  in  opposition  to  the*increas- 
ing  narrowness  of  Alexandria.  For,  if  Cyril's  the- 
ology was  open  to  question,  that  of  his  successor, 
Dioscorus,  an  equally  bad  man  and  a  far  worse 
theologian,  was  positively  a  reproach  to  the  Chris- 
tian intelligence.  In  opposition  to  his  monophysite 
error,  Theodoret  maintained  the  broader  doctrine 
of  the  Church.  For  this  the  "  Robber-Synod,"  held 
at  Ephesus  in  449,  condemned  him,  and,  the  civil 
power  concurring,  he  was  deposed  from  his  see.  In 
this  emergency,  most  of  his  old  Antiochian  friends 
being  dead,  he  appealed  to  Pope  Leo  for  assistance. 
He  gave  him  his  sympathy  and  aid,  and  in  the  Coun- 
cil of  Chalcedon  (a.  d.  451)  he  was  restored  to  his 
see.  Returning  to  Cyrus,  he  continued  in  quiet, 
composing  his  commentaries,  until  his  death  in  458. 
Theodoret  may  fairly  be  called  the  greatest 
Greek  churchman  of  his  day.  In  his  death  the 
Eastern  Church  lost  its  last  great  writer  and  theo- 
logian. The  ecclesiastics  who  in  the  next  century 
quarreled  over  what  they  did  not  understand,  saw 
fit,  at  the  fifth  general  council,  to  condemn  his  writ- 
ings in  common  with  Theodore's,  and  thus  to  cast 
a  cloud  over  his  name.  It  is  in  consequence  of  this 
that  the  Church  has  withholden  from  him  the  full 
honors  of  sainthood.  Instead  of  such  a  formal 
canonization,  let  the  Church  universal  think  rever- 


THEODORET.  201 

ently  of  him  as  a  self-denying  bishop,  an  able  and 
orthodox  theologian,  an  eloquent  preacher,  a  great 
expositor  of  Scripture,  and  as  the  chief  representa- 
tive of  the  Antiochian  school  of  thought  in  the 
early  Church.  Following  are  described  his  chief 
works : 

COMMENTARIES. 

Photius,  the  learned  critic  of  the  ninth  century, 
who  had  the  whole  of  the  early  ecclesiastical  litera- 
ture before  him,  has  thus  characterized  Theodoret's 
writings  upon  the  Scriptures  :  "  His  language  is  very 
proper  for  a  commentary ;  for  he  explains  in  proper 
and  significant  terms  whatsoever  is  obscure  and 
difficult  in  the  text,  and  renders  the  mind  more  fit 
to  read  and  understand  it  by  the  pleasantness  and 
elegance  of  his  discourse.  He  does  not  weary  his 
reader  by  long  digressions,  but  on  the  contrary  he 
labors  to  instruct  him  ingeniously,  clearly,  and 
methodically  in  everything  that  seems  hard.  He 
never  departs  from  the  purity  and  elegance  of  the 
Attic  tongue,  if  there  is  nothing  that  obliges  him  to 
speak  of  abstruse  matters  to  which  the  ears  are  not 
accustomed.  For  it  is  certain  that  he  passes  over 
nothing  that  needs  explanation,  and  it  is  almost  im- 
possible to  find  any  interpreter  who  unfolds  all 
manner  of  difficulties  better,  and  leaves  fewer  things 
obscure.  We  may  find  many  others  who  speak  ele- 
gantly, and  explain  clearly,  but  we  shall  scarcely 
find  any  who  have  written  well,  and  who  have  for- 
gotten nothing  which  has  need  of  illustration,  with- 
out being  too  diffuse,  nor  without  running  out  into 
digressions,  at  least  such  as  are  not  absolutely 
necessary  for  clearing  the  matter  in  hand.  Never- 
theless, this  is  what  Theodoret  has  observed  in  all 
his  commentaries  upon  Holy  Scripture,  in  which  he 
has  wonderfully  well  opened  the  text  by  his  labor 
and  diligent  search." 


202  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

The  commentaries  are  upon  nearly  the  entire 
Scriptures.  Those  upon  the  historical  books  of  the 
Old  Testament,  from  Genesis  to  2  Chronicles,  are 
in  the  form  of  questions  and  answers  upon  the 
more  difficult  passages.  The  author  intended  the 
work,  he  says,  first,  to  stop  the  mouth  of  cavilers 
by  showing  that  there  is  neither  falsity  nor  contra- 
diction in  Scripture  ;  and,  secondly,  to  content  those 
who  are  truly  inquiring  by  satisfying  their  doubts. 
The  first  question  raised  is,  Why  did  not  the  author 
of  the  Pentateuch  make  a  discourse  upon  the  being 
and  nature  of  God  before  he  spoke  of  the  crea- 
tion.'* To  which  it  is  answered  that  he  conde- 
scended to  the  weakness  of  those  he  had  to  instruct 
by  speaking  first  of  the  creatures  which  they  knew; 
that  he  could  sufficiently  make  known  the  Creator 
by  setting  forth  his  eternity,  wisdom,  and  bounty  in 
the  history  of  creation  ;  and,  lastly,  that  he  spoke  to 
persons  who  already  had  some  idea  of  God,  since 
Moses  had  already  taught  them  that  he  is  what  he 
is,  a  name  that  signifies  eternity.  Various  questions 
in  regard  to  angels  are  considered,  and  among  the 
answers  it  is  declared  that  every  person  has  his 
guardian  angel.  In  answering  a  question  upon  the 
making  of  man  in  God's  image  and  likeness,  The- 
odoret  cites  Diodorus,  Theodore,  and  Origen  to 
prove  that  the  likeness  is  to  be  understood  not  of 
the  body,  but  of  the  soul.  He  also  has  frequent  re- 
course to  the  various  Greek  versions  of  Scripture 
and  to  the  Hebrew  text  as  given  in  Origen 's  "  Hex- 
apla."  The  comments  are  ordinarily  straightfor- 
ward explanations  of  the  natural  sense  of  the  text. 
But,  in  revolting  against  the  old  allegorical  method, 
Theodoret  was  no  extremist;  and  where,  as  in  the 
sacrifices  and  ceremonies  of  the  old  law,  there  is  a 
plain  foreshadowing  of  what  appears  in  the  law  of 
Christ,  he  recognizes  it  and  explains  it.  He  also 
draws  instruction  as  to  manners  and  morals  out  of 


THEODORET.  203 

most  of  the  ordinances  of  Leviticus  and  Numbers. 
There  is  a  special  preface  upon  the  later  historical 
books  which  reads  quite  like  the  criticisms  of  mod- 
ern scholars  :  "  There  were  many  prophets,"  it  says, 
"  who  have  left  us  no  books,  and  whose  names  we 
learn  out  of  the  history  of  the  Chronicles.  Every 
one  of  these  prophets  wrote  ordinarily  what  hap- 
pened in  his  time.  For  this  reason  it  is  that  the 
first  book  of  Kings  is  called  by  the  Hebrews  and 
Syrians  the  prophecy  of  Samuel.  We  need  only  to 
read  it,  and  we  shall  be  convinced  of  the  truth 
of  this.  They,  then,  that  composed  the  books  of 
Kings  wrote  them  a  long  time  after,  from  these 
ancient  memoirs.  For  how  could  they  that  lived 
in  the  time  of  Saul  or  David  write  that  which  hap- 
pened afterward  under  Hezekiah  and  Josiah .?  How 
could  they  relate  the  war  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem,  the  captivity  of  the  people,  and 
the  death  of  Nebuchadnezzar  ?  It  is,  then,  appar- 
ent that  every  prophet  wrote  what  passed  in  his  own 
time,  and  that  others,  making  a  collection  of  their 
memoirs,  have  composed  the  books  of  Kings.  And 
after  these  came  other  historiographers,  who  made 
a  collection  of  what  the  first  had  forgotten,  of  which 
they  composed  the  two  books  of  Chronicles." 

In  the  preface  upon  the  Psalms,  Theodoret  gives 
his  idea  of  what  a  commentary  ought  to  be,  and 
says  that  "  we  ought  to  know  above  all  things  that 
a  prophecy  is  not  designed  only  to  foretell  what 
shall  happen,  but  also  to  be  a  history  of  what  is 
present  and  past ;  since  Moses  has  written  a  history 
of  the  creation,  not  from  the  records  of  men,  but  by 
the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  wherein  he  speaks  of 
what  happened  in  his  own  time,  as  the  plagues  of 
Pharaoh,  and  foretells  things  to  come,  as  the  advent 
of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  Song  of  Songs  is  construed  spiritually,  the 
preface,  after  a  somewhat  extended  apology  for  the 


204  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FATHERS. 

book,  saying,  "  We  do  nothing  extraordinary,  then, 
when  we  understand  the  Song  of  Songs  spiritually, 
and  so  much  the  rather  because  the  apostle  has  ex- 
pounded who  is  the  bridegroom  and  the  spouse 
spoken  of  in  this  book.  Jesus  Christ  himself  is 
called  the  bridegroom ;  the  spouse  is  his  Church  ; 
her  companions  are  the  souls  who  are  not  yet  per- 
fect enough  to  be  spouses  of  Jesus  Christ;  they 
that  converse  with  the  bridegroom  are  either  the 
prophets  or  apostles,  or  more  likely  the  angels." 

A  commentary  upon  Isaiah  is  lost,  but  we  have 
books  upon  all  the  other  prophets. 

The  writings  upon  the  New  Testament  embrace 
all  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  and  have  been  thought  to 
excel  all  the  other  commentaries  of  Theodoret  in 
solidity  and  elegance,  Theodore  and  Chrysostom 
having  already  written  upon  these  books,  Theo- 
doret explains  that  he  makes  use  of  their  writings, 
that,  in  fact,  he  does  nothing  more  than  abridge 
the  works  of  others.  This  is  literally  true  of  his 
use  of  Chrysostom,  whose  commentaries  he  abridges 
by  simply  cutting  off  the  moral  reflections. 

HISTORICAL    WRITINGS. 

Ecclesiastical  History. 

Next  after  his  fame  as  a  commentator,  Theo- 
doret is  best  known  as  a  church  historian.  He  be- 
gins his  narration  with  the  rise  of  the  Trinitarian 
controversy,  circa  312,  and  comes  down  to  429,  the 
eve  of  the  controversy  upon  the  Person  of  Christ. 
The  history  is  thus  a  continuation  of  Eusebius's,  as 
it  is  supplementary  to  those  of  Socrates  and  Sozo- 
men,  treating  of  important  events  which  these  au- 
thors omit.  Its  style  is  superior  to  theirs,  and  it 
cites  original  authorities,  but  it  is  not  at  all  explicit 
in  matters  of  chronology. 


THEODORE  T.  205 

Philotheus  ;  or.  Lives  of  the  Monks. 

This  work  celebrates  the  virtues  of  thirty  fa- 
mous monks  of  Theodoret's  time,  many  of  whom 
he  had  known  personally.  One  of  these  was  the 
well-known  Simeon  Stylites,  who  among  other  au- 
sterities, such  as  passing  the  Lenten  season  absolute- 
ly without  food  or  drink,  stood  for  years  upon  the  top 
of  a  lofty  pillar.  The  book  is  written  in  a  some- 
what bombastic  style,  in  accord  with  the  fulsome 
praise  which  it  bestows  upon  the  monks  even  in 
their  most  extravagant  excesses.  But  it  is  pleas- 
ant, amid  so  much  that  repels  us  in  the  lives  of 
these  ascetics,  to  find  some  things  that  compel  our 
admiration,  and  make  us  feel  that  there  was  some- 
thing of  the  divine  in  the  impulse  which  drove  so 
many  men  of  that  unsettled  and  wicked  age  into  a 
life  of  solitude.  Such  is  the  incident  related  of  the 
monk  Marcian,  descended  from  a  noble  family  of 
Cyrus.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  eating  every  day, 
about  evening,  a  quarter  of  a  pound  of  bread,  ac- 
counting it  better  to  eat  every  day,  without  ever  ful- 
ly satisfying  his  hunger,  than  to  fast  many  days  and 
then  eat  his  fill.  Another  monk  named  Avitus  hav- 
ing come  to  see  him,  after  he  had  entertained  him 
a  long  time,  he  caused  supper  to  be  got  ready  after 
the  ninth  hour,  and  invited  the  solitary  to  eat  with 
him.  The  hermit  told  him  that  it  was  his  custom 
not  to  eat  till  the  sun  was  down,  and  that  he  some- 
times staid  two  or  three  days  without  eating.  Mar- 
cian desired  him  for  once  to  waive  that  custom  for 
his  sake,  because,  being  weak  of  body,  he  was  not 
able  to  wait  till  the  sun  was  down.  Avitus  demur- 
ring, he  sat  down  to  supper,  saying  that  he  was 
sorry  that  Avitus  had  taken  so  much  pains  to  visit 
a  person  so  intemperate.  The  guest  then  consented 
to  eat,  and  Marcian  said  to  him,  "  We  have  no  cus- 
tom more  than  you  to  eat  before  the  sun  is  down, 
18 


2o6  POST-NJCENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

but  we  are  sensible  that  charity  ought  to  be  pre- 
ferred before  fasting,  for  that  is  commanded,  but 
fasting  is  left  to  our  own  liberty,  and  we  ought  to 
prefer  the  law  of  God  before  any  private  institu- 
tions." 

TREATISES. 

Some  of  Theodoret's  treatises  are  lost,  among 
them  five  books  against  Cyril.  We  have  his  confu- 
tation of  Cyril's  twelve  chapters  and  the  four  con- 
siderable works  which  follow : 

Evanistes  or  Polymorphus. 

This  name  is  suggested  by  the  many  forms  as- 
sumed by  the  error  which  the  book  combats.  The 
first  part  of  the  work  consists  of  three  dialogues 
upon  the  nature  of  Christ,  in  which  one  speaker  pro- 
poses questions  and  raises  objections,  and  the  other 
defends  the  true  faith.  The  doctrine  advocated  is 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  both  God  and  man,  the  human 
and  the  divine  nature  being  united  in  one  person, 
yet  each  subsisting  without  mixture  or  confusion 
with  the  other.  Following  the  dialogues,  which  are 
written  in  a  familiar  style  adapted  to  general  read- 
ers, is  a  more  scholarly  synopsis  of  the  argument. 

Of  Hci'dical  Fables. 

The  first  four  of  these  five  books  give  an  histori- 
cal sketch  of  the  various  heresies  after  the  manner 
of  lren?eus,  Hippolytus,  and  Clement.  In  the  fourth 
book  the  Nestorian  heresy  is  described,  but  it  is  sup- 
posed that  this  part  is  a  forgery,  for  it  treats  Nes- 
torius  with  great  severity,  making  him  a  veritable 
instrument  of  the  devil,  whereas  Theodoret  was 
always  kindly  disposed  toward  him.  It  is  notice- 
able that  neither  Pelagians  nor  Origenists  are  named 
among  the  heretics.     Book  five  gives  a  summary  of 


THEODORE  T.  207 

the  true  faith,  and  then  treats  of  various  points  of 
morals. 

Discourses  of  Providence. 

These  are  ten  discourses  upon  natural  theol- 
ogy, delivered  probably  at  Antioch.  In  them  the 
author  argues  a  providential  design  from  the  posi- 
tion of  the  heavenly  bodies,  the  order  of  the  ele- 
ments, the  contexture  of  man's  body,  the  inven- 
tion of  the  arts,  and  the  dominion  of  man  over  the 
beasts.  He  answers  some  objections  by  showing 
that  poverty  and  misfortune,  which  even  just  men 
have  to  endure,  have  their  compensations ;  that  vir- 
tue is  profitable  even  though  it  be  not  recompensed 
in  this  world.  In  the  last  discourse  it  is  taught  that 
the  love  of  God  for  man  thus  proved  was  chiefly 
shown  in  the  incarnation  of  the  Son. 

Ctire  of  Heathen  Falsehoods. 

This  is  a  work  of  vast  learning,  quoting  upward 
of  a  hundred  heathen  writers.  The  discourses, 
twelve  in  number,  are  elaborate  in  their  style,  and 
will  compare  favorably  with  any  of  the  works  of 
antiquity  in  defense  of  Christianity. 


LETTERS. 

Theodoret's  letters,  which  are  numerous,  are 
generally  divided  into  two  classes,  public  and  pri- 
vate epistles.  The  former  relate  chiefly  to  the 
troubles  with  the  Egyptian  party  in  the  Church 
over  the  Nestorian  question.  Dupin  says  of  The- 
odoret's letters  that  they  all  discover  a  great  deal  of 
piety,  charity,  and  humility,  and  of  the  private  let- 
ters that  they  have  all  the  qualifications  which  ren- 
der letters  valuable,  for  they  are  short,  plain,  neat, 
elegant,  civil,  pleasant,  full  of  matter,  wit,  and  holi- 
ness. 


2o8  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS, 

THE   CHURCH    HISTORIANS. 

EusEBius  SO  far  exhausted  the  materials  for  the 
earlier  history  of  the  Church  that  his  successors  did 
not  venture  upon  the  same  ground.  Socrates,  So- 
zomen,  and  Theodoret,  the  three  historians  next  in 
rank  to  Eusebius,  and  who  all  wrote  about  a.  d. 
^50,  began  their  works  where  his  history  left  off.  Of 
the  last  of  these,  as  well  as  of  the  Father  of  Church 
History  himself,  we  have  already  spoken.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  authors  given  below  may  be  named 
Philip  of  Side,  a  friend  of  Chrysostom,  who  wrote 
a  History  of  Christianity  in  thirty-six  books,  the 
loss  of  which  has  been  no  great  calamity  to  the 
world ;  Basil,  of  Cilicia,  who  wrote  three  books  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,  now  lost;  and  Theodorus 
the  Reader,  who  made  a  summary  of  Socrates,  So- 
zomen,  and  Theodoret,  which  he  continued  in  two 
books,  also  lost. 

SOCRATES. 

Of  the  three  nearly  contemporaneous  writers 
above  named,  Socrates  probably  wrote  first.  Born 
and  educated  in  Constantinople,  he  for  some  years 
practiced  law  in  that  city,  but  gave  up  his  professional 
work  to  devote  himself  to  ecclesiastical  studies.  His 
history,  which  is  in  seven  books,  and  comes  down  to 
the  year  445,  evinces  large  research  and  good  judg- 
ment, and,  though  containing  some  evident  mis- 
takes, is  for  the  most  part  accurate.  Its  style  is 
plain  and  simple,  to  adapt  it,  as  the  author  says,  to 
all  classes  of  people.  Much  care  is  taken  in  the 
matter  of  dates,  and  recourse  is  had  to  original  au- 
thorities, such  as  public  records,  pastoral  letters, 
and  acts  of  synods.     A  noticeable  peculiarity  of 


THE   CHURCH  HISTORIANS.  209 

Socrates  is  the  favor  with  which  he  always  speaks 
of  the  Novatians,  a  predilection  so  strong  that  he 
has  been  thought  by  some  to  have  belonged  to  that 
sect. 

SOZOMEN. 

This  writer  covers  so  nearly  the  same  ground 
with  Socrates  that  Valesius  has  not  hesitated  to  say 
that  one  stole  the  materials  of  the  other,  and  his 
opinion,  as  indeed  the  common  one,  is  that  Sozo- 
men  is  the  debtor.  He,  like  Socrates,  was  a  lawyer 
in  Constantinople,  but  seems  to  have  been  a  younger 
man,  and  to  have  continued  his  practice  at  the  fo- 
rum, which  the  other  had  abandoned  to  pursue  his 
researches.  His  work  is  in  nine  books,  the  prin- 
cipal additions  to  what  Socrates  has  related  being 
in  extended  details  in  regard  to  monks  and  solita- 
ries, and  in  his  ninth  book,  which  is  devoted  almost 
entirely  to  political  history. 

PHILOSTORGIUS. 

A  fourth  work,  covering  the  period  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Arian  to  the  beginning  of  the  Nes- 
torian  controversy,  was  that  of  Philostorgius,  writ- 
ten in  the  Arian  interest.  The  work  itself  is  lost, 
but  we  have  an  epitome  of  it  by  Photius,  in  which 
the  orthodox  fathers  are  handled  with  great  sever- 
ity. Though  defending  what  may  be  called  the 
rationalistic  school  of  his  day,  Philostorgius  was 
himself  very  credulous,  and  an  ultra-supernatural- 
ist.  Having  spoken  in  his  last  book  of  certain  re- 
markable earthquakes,  he  says  that  the  circumstances 
prove  that  such  things  do  not  happen  through 
natural  causes,  but  that  they  are  sent  down  upon 
mankind  as  scourges  of  the  divine  wrath,  for  the 
purpose  of  converting  sinners  and  bringing  them  to 
repentance. 


2IO  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

EVAGRIUS. 

Evagrius,  an  advocate  of  Antioch,  wrote  near 
the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  and  continued  the 
histories  of  the  preceding  century.  Beginning  with 
the  Nestorian  heresy,  he  comes  down  to  the  year 
594.  The  history,  about  equal  in  volume  to  that  of 
Theodoret,  is  written  in  a  good  style — Photius  says 
v/ith  elegance  and  politeness.  It  gives  much  space, 
professedly,  to  the  secular  affairs  of  the  period ;  but 
is  earnest  in  its  defense  of  orthodoxy,  and  makes 
frequent  mention  of  prodigies  and  miracles. 


OTHER  WRITERS  OF  THE  FOURTH  AND 
FIFTH    CENTURIES. 

The  really  great  writers  of  the  fourth  century 
make  authors,  who  two  centuries  later  might  have 
been  prominent,  seem  insignificant.  We,  therefore, 
only  refer  to  Eusebius  of  Emisa,  Basil  of  Ancyra, 
Acacius  of  Caesarea,  ^tius,  and  Eunomius,  Arian 
or  semi-Arian  writers  whose  works  are  now  lost ; 
Peter  and  Timothy,  Patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  au- 
thors of  certain  penitential  canons;  Eustathius  and 
Melitius,  Bishops  of  Antioch,  authors  of  some  minor 
works ;  Amphilochius  of  Iconium  ;  several  authors 
by  the  name  of  Macarius,  one  of  whom  has  left  us 
fifty  homilies  and  seven  spiritual  treatises;  Sera- 
pion,  who  wrote  against  the  Manichees ;  and  An- 
tony, Pachomius,  Orsiesis,  Paphnutius,  Theodorus, 
and  Isaiah,  all  of  Egypt,  who  wrote  upon  monastic 
rules.  Worthy  of  notice  in  the  fifth  century  were 
Severianus  of  Gabala,  author  of  a  few  extant  ora- 
tions;   Victor  of   Antioch,   who   claimed   that  his 


OTHER  WRITERS,  211 

commentary  on  Mark  was  the  first  to  be  written  on 
that  gospel ;  Asterius  of  Amasea,  author  of  various 
homilies ;  Palladius,  who  wrote  the  "  Lausiac  His- 
tory," or  lives  of  the  holiest  monks  of  whom  he  had 
knowledge  in  Egypt,  Libya,  and  Palestine,  a  book 
full  of  wild  fancies,  and  also  a  life  of  Chrysostom ; 
Isidore,  a  monk  of  Pelusium,  from  whose  pen  we 
have  two  thousand  epistles,  arranged  in  five  books, 
on  Scripture,  on  doctrine,  on  discipline,  on  advice 
and  instruction,  and  on  the  discipline  and  life 
of  monks;  Theodotus  of  Ancyra,  a  zealous  oppo- 
nent of  Nestorius,  and  writer  of  an  exposition  of 
the  Nicene  Creed ;  Eutherius,  Bishop  of  Tyana,  a 
courageous  defender  of  Nestorius,  who  was  deposed 
rather  than  conform,  and  who  has  given  an  account 
of  the  inquisitorial  zeal  with  which  his  party  were 
persecuted;  Proclus,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
author  of  seven  extant  sermons  and  of  an  epistle  to 
the  Armenians  on  their  faith ;  Nilus,  an  illustrious 
citizen  of  Constantinople,  who  became  a  monk  and 
who  left  some  hortatory  sentences  or  proverbs; 
Basil,  of  Seleucia,  author  of  some  sermons ;  ^neas 
Gazeus,  a  Christian  philosopher,  who  wrote  a  dia- 
logue, called  from  one  of  the  speakers  Theophras- 
tus,  on  the  nature  of  the  soul ;  and  Nemesius,  also 
a  philosopher,  who  left  a  treatise  on  the  nature  of 
man.  To  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  is  thought 
to  belong  tht pseud.  Dionysius  Areopagitica,  whose 
mystical  works  "  On  the  Celestial  Hierarchy  "  and 
"  On  the  Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy  "  had  much  influ- 
ence on  the  succeeding  age. 

Among  the  Greek  Christian  poets  of  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries  are  named,  in  addition  to  Greg- 


212  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

ory  Nazianzen  and  Synesius,  Amphilochius  of  Ico- 
nium,  who,  besides  some  sermons,  left  a  poem  which 
is  sometimes  assigned  to  his  friend  Gregory;  Non- 
nus,  who  as  a  pagan  had  written  a  "  Dionysiaca  "  of 
twenty-two  thousand  lines,  and  after  conversion 
wrote  a  paraphrase  of  John's  Gospel  in  hexameter 
verse  ;  and  the  Empress  Eudocia,  whose  only  re- 
maining work  is  known  as  Hom.eric  Centos  con- 
cerning Christ,  being  a  compilation  of  Homeric 
verses  to  describe  certain  events  in  the  life  of  our 
Lord.  To  these,  all  of  whom  wrote  classic  verse, 
should  be  added  Anatolius,  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, author  of  certain  hymns  used  in  the  divine 
office  of  the  Greek  Church. 


JOHN  OF   DAMASCUS. 

The  engrosser  of  the  theology  of  the  Greek  fa- 
thers. Yet  this  last  of  those  fathers  was  not  a  mere 
copyist.  He  was  born  at  Damascus,  near  the  close 
of  the  seventh  century.  His  father,  though  a  Chris- 
tian, held  a  high  office  under  the  Saracen  Caliph,  to 
which  office  at  his  death  John  succeeded.  His 
Arabic  name  was  Mansur;  from  the  Greeks  he  later 
received  the  surname  Chrysorrhoas  (gold-pouring), 
on  account  of  his  eloquence.  His  education  was 
gained  from  a  learned  monk,  Cosmas,  whom  his 
father  had  redeemed  from  slavery.  About  a.  d.  730 
John  wrote  certain  treatises  in  favor  of  the  worship 
of  images  as  against  the  iconoclasm  of  the  Emperor 
Leo  the  Isaurian,  which  so  incensed  that  monarch 
that,  it  is  said,  he  forged  a  letter  to  the  Caliph  ac- 


JOHN  OF  DAMASCUS.  213 

cusing  his  officer  of  treachery.  The  charge  was  at 
first  believed,  and  John  was  condemned  to  lose  his 
right  hand.  When,  soon  after,  the  fraud  was  discov- 
ered, the  Caliph  desired  him  to  retain  his  office  ;  but 
instead  he  gave  away  his  property  to  the  poor,  and 
retired  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Sabas,  near  Jerusa- 
lem, where  he  spent  the  rest  of  his  life  in  the  prep- 
aration of  his  numerous  works.  It  is  said  that  he 
was  ordained  a  priest  at  Jerusalem,  and  that  he  once 
traveled  to  Constantinople ;  but  we  have  little  posi- 
tive knowledge  concerning  his  life.  The  last  no- 
tice of  him  as  alive  is  in  754. 

John  is  accounted  a  saint  both  by  the  Eastern 
and  the  Western  Churches.  Summing  up  as  he  does 
the  thought  of  centuries,  he  "  remains  in  later  times," 
says  an  eminent  scholar,  "  the  highest  authority  in 
the  theological  literature  of  the  Greeks."  His  origi- 
nal work,  other  than  that  of  giving  a  logical  form  to 
the  Greek  body  of  divinity,  had  mainly  to  do  with 
the  controversy  concerning  images,  of  whose  use 
he  was  a  stanch  defender.  Living  as  he  did  under 
the  caliphs  and  in  the  first  century  of  Islamism,  it 
disappoints  us  to  find  in  his  works  so  little  regard- 
ing that  great  movement.  He  has  indeed  some 
fragments  upon  the  "  Saracen  heresy  "  (!),  but  they 
hardly  deserve  mention.  It  is  ungenerous,  how-- 
ever,  to  speak  of  what  John  did  not  do.  For  nearly 
two  centuries  before  his  day  the  luminaries  of  the 
Eastern  Church  had  been  only  feeble  rush-lights; 
for  almost  a  hundred  years  even  such  rush-lights 
had  disappeared,  and  now  suddenly  from  the  lonely 
monastery  of  St.  Sabas  shot  forth  a  flame  worthy 
of  shining  in  the  best  ages  of  the  Church.     What  if 


214  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

this  kindling  was  the  last  flicker  before  the  fire  went 
out  ?  The  more  the  honor  which  we  should  bestow 
upon  it,  and  the  higher  the  estimate  which  we  should 
put  upon  the  great  Damascene. 

The  author  himself  refers  to  his  three  most  im- 
portant works  by  the  collective  and  ambitious  title 
of 

THE    FOUNT    OF    KNOWLEDGE. 
I.  Dialectics. 

This  treatise  is  a  philosophical  introduction  to 
the  other  two,  and  is  substantially  a  summary  of  the 
"  Categories  "  of  Aristotle,  to  be  employed  as  a  test 
of  truth  in  theology.  The  work  is  an  important 
one,  as  having  thus  first  applied  the  Aristotelian 
method  to  theology  and  as  having  (probably)  intro- 
duced Aristotle  to  his  earlier  Arabian  admirers  and 
translators. 

2.  Of  Heresies. 

The  first  part  of  this  work  is  a  reproduction 
of  earlier  writings,  chiefly  those  of  Epiphanius.  The 
more  important  later  heresies  treated  are  those  of  the 
Nestorians,  the  Monophysites,  the  Monotheletes, 
the  Saracens  or  Ishmaelites,  and  the  Image-Break- 
ers. The  book  concludes  with  a  confession  of  the 
true  faith. 

j>.  Of  the  Orthodox  Faith. 

This  is  a  formal  system  of  theology,  the  ele- 
ments of  which  had  been  wrought  out  by  the  fathers 
of  four  centuries,  principally  by  Athanasius,  Basil, 
the  two  Gregorys,  Epiphanius,  Chrysostom,  Cyril  of 
Alexandria,  Theodore,  and  Theodoret  (who,  how- 
ever, were  no  longer  recognized  as  authoritative 
theologians),  and  the  pseud.  Areopagite.  As  the 
first  complete  "  Body  of  Divinity,"  and  as  thus 
crystallizing  the  opinions  of  the  Greek  fathers,  it 
has  been  a  work  of  large  influence  upon  the  subse- 


JOHN  OF  DAMASCUS,  215 

quent  history  of  theology.  The  four  books  into 
which  modern  editors  have  divided  its  hundred 
chapters  treat  respectively  "  Of  the  Being  and  Na- 
ture of  God,"  "  Of  the  Works  of  Creation  and  the 
Nature  of  Man,"  "  Of  Redemption  through  the  In- 
carnation," and  "Of  Ecclesiastical  Usages." 

Of  God  it  is  said  that,  beyond  his  existence,  we 
can  affirm  nothing  save  what  the  Holy  Scriptures 
have  revealed  to  us.  As  evidence  of  his  existence 
we  may  urge  the  concurrent  opinions  of  those  who 
have  and  those  who  have  not  this  revelation.  Rea- 
son also  affirms  this,  since  the  changeableness  of  all 
things  proves  that  they  were  created,  and,  if  a  crea- 
tion, then  there  must  be  a  Creator.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  basing  all  knowledge  of  the  mode  of  God's 
being  upon  revelation,  he  endeavors  to  argue  the 
existence  of  the  Son  from  the  fatherhood  of  God, 
and  predicates  the  being  of  the  Spirit  from  the  anal- 
ogy of  the  breath  in  the  nostrils  of  man.  The 
Holy  Spirit,  he  says,  proceeds  alone  from  the  Father. 

The  motive  to  creation  was  God's  goodness. 
In  the  description  of  the  physical  universe,  refer- 
ence is  made  to  the  opinions  of  various  writers,  as 
of  Aristotle  and  Ptolemy,  that  the  heavens  are  spher- 
ical, and  of  Chrysostom  that  they  are  hemispherical. 
The  four  rivers  of  paradise  are  said  to  be  the  Gan- 
ges, Nile,  Euphrates,  and  Tigris,  which  are  con- 
nected with  the  circumambient  ocean-stream.  In 
treating  of  the  faculties  of  man,  chief  stress  is  laid 
on  the  freedom  of  his  will,  in  virtue  of  which  he 
fell  into  sin. 

In  discussing  the  Incarnation  much  prominence 
is  given  to  the  double  nature  and  the  twofold  will 
and  operation  of  the  one  person  of  Christ.  The 
title  "  Mother  of  God  "  is  defended,  and  Nestorius 
is  sharply  condemned.  Christ  endured  hunger, 
weariness,  sorrow,  and  fear  only  as  he  was  human, 
and  in  that  sense  only  could  he  increase  in  wisdom 


2i6  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  TIIERS. 

and  knowledge.  His  divinity,  which  remained  with 
him  even  in  death,  was  ever  impassible.  He  needed 
not  to  pray,  as  being  himself  God  ;  but  he  did  pray, 
to  give  us  an  example. 

The  most  distinctive  part  of  the  fourth  book  is 
that  devoted  to  the  cross,  which  he  says  should  be 
worshiped,  and  to  images  and  pictures  in  churches, 
which  he  says  were  first  introduced  to  teach  the  un- 
learned truth,  of  which  their  ignorance  of  letters 
would  else  deprive  them.  He  guards  himself  by 
saying  that  it  is  not  the  material  of  which  cross  and 
image  are  composed  which  is  worshiped,  but  that 
which  these  represent.  His  view  of  the  bread  and 
wine  of  the  sacrament  is  that  they  are  "not  a  type  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ — God  forbid  !  but  the 
very  deified  body  of  the  Lord,"  being  supernatu- 
rally  changed  through  the  invocation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  In  the  list  of  New  Testament  books  which 
he  gives  is  included  the  "Apostolical  Canons," 
which  he  supposes  to  have  been  written  by  Clement. 
Concluding  the  work  with  some  reflections  upon  the 
resurrection  and  the  final  judgment,  the  author  says 
that  then  the  devil,  and  his  angels,  and  the  ungodly 
shall  be  delivered  up  to  everlasting  fire,  which  "  hell- 
fire  shall  not  be  material,  as  that  among  us,  but 
such  as  God  knows."  Elsewhere  he  explains  this 
to  mean  the  unquenchable  flame  of  sinful  desires. 

HYMNS. 

For  a  brief  notice  of  the  character  of  the  hym- 
nology  of  this  period,  reference  may  be  had  to  the 
closing  pages  of  this  volume.  With  common  con- 
sent, John  takes  rank  as  the  "chief  of  the  Greek 
hymnodists,"  He  wrote  four  hymns  in  classical 
verse:  the  "Birth  of  Christ,"  the  "  Epiphany,"  and 
"  Pentecost  "  in  iambics,  and  a  "  Prayer  "  in  Anacre- 
ontics.    He  is  chiefly  known,  however,  as  the  au- 


JOHN  OF  DAMASCUS.  217 

thor  of  canons — hymns  consisting  uniformly  of  nine 
odes  composed  of  a  variable  number  of  stanzas — 
and  "  Idiomela  " — stanzas  without  conventional  form 
— used  in  the  divine  office  of  the  Greek  Church.  His 
three  principal  canons  are  the  so-called  "Golden 
Canon,  for  Easter-Day,"  and  those  for  Ascension  and 
St.  Thomas's  Sunday.  Among  the  "Idiomela"  at- 
tributed to  him  are  those  of  "  The  Last  Kiss,"  used 
in  the  burial  service.  The  knowledge  which  Eng- 
lish readers  have  of  these  hymns  is  due  almost  en- 
tirely to  Dr.  J.  M.  Neale's  little  volume,  "  Hymns 
of  the  Eastern  Church,"  from  which  we  take  the 
following  brief  translations  simply  to  suggest  the 
style  of  these  hymns  : 

Ode  I,  of  the  Canon  for  Easter. 

'Tis  the  day  of  Resurrection : 

Earth  !  tell  it  abroad  ! 
The  Passover  of  gladness! 

The  Passover  of  God  ! 
From  death  to  life  eternal, 

From  earth  unto  the  sky, 
Our  Christ  hath  brought  us  over, 

With  hymns  of  victory. 

Our  hearts  be  pure  from  evil. 

That  we  may  see  aright 
The  Lord  in  rays  eternal 

Of  resurrection  light ; 
And,  listening  to  his  accents, 

May  hear,  so  calm  and  plain, 
His  own — All  hail! — and,  hearing, 

May  raise  the  victor  strain ! 

Now  let  the  heavens  be  joyful ! 

Let  earth  her  song  begin  ! 
Let  the  round  world  keep  triumph, 

And  all  that  is  therein. 

19 


31 8  FOST-NICEXE   GREEK  FATHERS. 

Invisible  and  visible, 

Their  notes  let  all  things  blend — 
For  Christ  the  Lord  hath  risen — 

Our  Joy  that  hath  no  end. 


Idtomela  for  All  Saints. 

Those  eternal  bowers 

Man  hath  never  trod, 
Those  unfading  flowers 

Round  the  throne  of  God : 
Who  may  hope  to  gain  them 

After  weary  fight  ? 
Who  at  length  attain  them, 

Clad  in  robes  of  white  ? 

He  who  gladly  barters 

All  on  earthly  ground ; 
He  who,  like  the  martyrs, 

Says,  "  I  will  be  crowned  !  " 
He  whose  one  oblation 

Is  a  life  of  love ; 
Clinging  to  the  nation 

Of  the  blest  above. 

Shame  upon  you,  legions 

Of  the  Heavenly  King, 
Denizens  of  regions 

Past  imagining! 
What !  with  pipe  and  tabor 

Fool  away  the  light. 
When  he  bids  you  labor. 

When  he  tells  you  "  Fight !  " 

While  I  do  my  duty. 

Struggling  through  the  tide, 
Whisper  thou  of  beauty 

On  the  other  side ! 


OTHER  LATE   WRITERS,  219 

Tell  who  will  the  story 

Of  our  now  distress ; 
Oh,  the  future  glory  ! 

Oh,  the  loveliness ! 

Principal  Works. — Besides  the  works  mentioned, 
we  have  a  "  Dialogue  with  a  Saracen,"  chiefly  interesting  as 
being  written  so  near  the  rise  of  Islamism  ;  a  "  Dialogue 
with  a  Manicheean  "  ;  treatises  "  On  the  Two  Natures," 
"  Of  the  Two  Wills,"  "  On  the  Trisagion,"  upon  the  Trinity 
and  the  Incarnation  ;  three  orations  on  Images ;  fourteen 
orations  or  sermons  ;  Commentaries  on  Paul's  Epistles, 
drawn  chiefly  from  Chrysostom  ;  and  "  Sacred  Parallels," 
his  work  next  in  value  to  modern  readers  to  the  "  Fount 
of  Knowledge,"  it  being  a  collection  of  the  opinions  of  the 
early  fathers  of  the  Church  upon  various  points  of  moral- 
ity and  religion.  The  quotations  are  classified  by  sub- 
jects, and  arranged  under  corresponding  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture. 


OTHER   LATE   WRITERS. 

The  most  important  works  of  the  fourth  and 
fifth  centuries  had  been  in  some  way  connected 
with  the  Arian  and  Nestorian  controversies,  and 
often  owed  as  much  to  the  greatness  of  their  themes 
as  to  the  abilities  of  the  writers.  The  correspond- 
ing themes  of  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  centu- 
ries were  the  monophysite  controversy,  which  cul- 
minated in  Justinian's  edict  condemning  the  three 
chapters  of  Theodore,  Theodoret,  and  Ibas,  and  in 
the  fifth  general  council  (a.  d.  553)  ;  the  monothe- 
lite  controversy,  which  was  provoked  by  the  at- 
tempt of  the  Emperor  Heraclius  to  conciliate  the 
now  schismatic  monophysites,  and  culminated  in  the 
sixth  general  council  (a.  d.  680),  which  declared  in 
favor  of  "  two  wills  and  two  natural  modes  of  work- 


220  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

ing  united  without  schism  and  without  confusion, 
as  well  as  without  change  " ;  and  the  iconoclastic 
controversy  which  gave  rise  to  the  seventh  and  last 
general  council  (a.  d.  787),  which  is  recognized  by 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches. 

The  sixth  century  produced  no  single  writer  of 
prominence,  since  the  most  of  the  monophysite 
questions  had  all  been  extracted  in  the  previous 
age,  and  the  dry  bones  were  now  handled  chiefly  as 
a  matter  of  politics.  Following  are  the  names  of 
the  noteworthy  writers:  Severus,  a  leader  of  the 
monophysites,  who  first  cited  Dionysius  the  Are- 
opagite ;  Andrew  of  Caesarea  and  Procopius  Gaza, 
writers  of  commentaries ;  Maxentius,  author  of  sev- 
eral controversial  works  in  favor  of  monophysitism ; 
Ephraem  of  Antioch,  all  of  whose  works  are  lost ; 
Leontius,  a  favorer  of  Origen  and  Theodore  of  Mop- 
suestia,  who  wrote  a  book  concerning  the  sects ;  the 
Emperor  Justinian,  who  by  courtesy  is  placed  among 
ecclesiastical  writers  because  of  his  edict  of  the 
Three  Chapters ;  Cosmas  Indicopleustes,  who  vis- 
ited India  and  who  wrote  a  work  on  Christian  to- 
pography, of  some  value  as  showing  the  extensive 
organization  of  the  Church  at  that  time  at  the  far 
East ;  Anastasius  Sinaita,  author  of  certain  contro- 
versial works  ;  John  Climacus,  a  monk,  author  of 
the  "  Climax,"  or  "  Scale,"  a  work  in  thirty  chap- 
ters, each  of  which,  as  a  step  in  the  scale,  treats  of 
some  point  of  Christian  conduct;  John  Scholasti- 
cus,  who  made  a  collection  of  canons ;  Eustratius, 
who  wrote  on  the  post-mortem  condition  of  souls ; 
and  Eulogius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  wrote  on 
Church  government. 


OTHER  LATE    WRITERS.  221 

In  the  seventh  century  one  author  rises  into 
prominence,  the  monk  Maximus,  who  had  been  sec- 
retary of  state  to  the  Emperor  Heraclius.  He  was 
the  chief  defender  of  the  orthodox  doctrine  of  the 
two  wills  as  against  the  monothelites,  both  at  the 
East  and  in  the  West,  whither  he  traveled  in  the 
interests  of  the  faith.  He  wrote  much  on  theologi- 
cal and  on  practical  subjects.  Neander,  in  com- 
menting somewhat  at  length  upon  his  theological 
opinions,  says  that  he  is  led  thereto  by  "  the  solid 
inward  worth  and  importance  of  this  individual." 
Among  Maximus's  works  are  several  collections  of 
maxims — viz.,  four  hundred  spiritual  maxims  enti- 
tled "  Of  Charity,"  two  hundred  theological  and  eco- 
nomical maxims,  and  two  hundred  and  forty-three 
moral  maxims.  His  strictly  theological  works  con- 
cern chiefly  the  controversy  upon  the  single  or 
double  will  of  Christ. 

Other  writers  were  John  Philponus,  a  gramma- 
rian of  Alexandria,  who  wrote  on  the  creation,  and 
urged  that  the  world  was  not  eternal ;  Antiochus, 
abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Sabas  at  the  time 
when  Chosroes  captured  Jerusalem,  and  author  of 
a  "  Pandect  of  Divine  Scripture,"  or  compendium  of 
the  Christian  religion;  Sophronius,  Patriarch  of 
Jerusalem,  a  writer  against  the  monothelites ;  and 
Andrew,  Archbishop  of  Crete,  nineteen  of  whose 
discourses  are  now  extant.  In  the  eighth  century  no 
prose  writer  is  worthy  of  mention  here  except  John 
of  Damascus. 

The  classical  poets  of  this  period,  besides  the 
Damascenes,  were  Paul  Silentiarius  and  George  Pi^ 
sides,  both  court  poets.     The  former,  in  the  sixth 


222  POST-NICENE    GREEK  FA  THERS. 

century,  wrote  a  descriptive  poem  on  the  church  of 
St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople ;  the  latter,  in  the  sev- 
enth century,  was  author  of  several  poems,  the  most 
ambitious  of  which  was  on  the  "  Six  Days'  Work." 


THE    GREEK   HYMNOLOGISTS. 

With  the  eighth  century  began  a  new  epoch  of 
Greek  Christian  poetry — that,  namely,  in  which  it 
elaborated  the  divine  office  of  the  Greek  Church. 
The  hymns  composed  for  this  purpose  were  not 
poetry  at  all  in  the  old  classical  sense,  but  rather 
metrical  prose  more  resembling  the  Hebrew  psalms 
than  classical  odes  or  our  modern  hymns.  There 
had  been  some  contributions  to  this  ecclesiastical 
hymnology  previous  to  this  time,  as  by  Anatolius  in 
the  fifth  century,  but  the  period  of  chief  production, 
and  which  has  some  claim  to  originality  and  fresh- 
ness, was  that  of  the  iconoclastic  controversy.  As 
already  stated,  John  of  Damascus  ranks  first  among 
these  ecclesiastical  poets.  Other  names  which  come 
within  our  period  are  Andrew  Cretensis ;  Germanus, 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople ;  Cosmas  of  Jerusalem, 
and  Stephen  the  Sabaite.  Next  in  rank  to  John 
was  Cosmas,  his  foster-brother.  Retiring  together 
to  the  monastery  of  St.  Sabas,  the  two  vied  with 
each  other  in  thus  hymning  the  divine  praise  as  they 
did  in  devotion  to  ascetic  duties.  Cosmas  was 
afterward  made  bishop  of  Maiuma,  near  Gaza.  A 
stanza  from  Ode  IX  of  his  "Canon  for  Christ- 
mas Day "  has  been  rendered  by  Dr.  Neale  as 
follows : 


THE   GREEK  HYMNOLOGISTS.  223 

O  wondrous  mystery,  full  of  passing  grace ! 

The  grot  becometh  Heaven ;  the  Virgin's  breast 
The  bright  Cherubic  Throne  ;  the  stall,  that  place 
Where  He  who  fills  all  space  vouchsafes  to  rest; 
Christ  our  God,  to  whom  we  raise 
Hymns  of  thankfulness  and  praise  ! 


Stephen  the  Sabaite  was  a  nephew  of  John,  and 
was  only  ten  years  old  when  taken  by  him  to  the 
monastery  where  he  passed  his  life.  Of  the  few 
hymns  which  he  left,  the  following,  under  the  sym- 
pathetic touch  of  Dr.  Neale,  its  translator,  has 
taken  its  place  as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  hymns 
of  modern  times.  No  happier  leave  could  be  taken 
of  the  Greek  fathers  than  in  these  lines  which  show 
that  under  the  rough  garb  of  a  monk,  who  had 
fallen  upon  sad  days  when  the  Cross  was  bowing 
before  the  Crescent,  there  beat  the  same  loving, 
loyal  heart  with  which  the  disciple  of  to-day  bows 
before  his  Lord : 

Art  thou  weary,  art  thou  languid, 

Art  thou  sore  distressed  "* 
"  Come  to  me,"  saith  One,  "  and,  coming, 

Be  at  rest  I  " 

Hath  he  marks  to  lead  me  to  him, 

If  he  be  my  guide  ? 
"  In  his  feet  and  hands  are  wound-prints, 

And  his  side." 

Is  there  diadem  as  Monarch, 

That  his  brow  adorns  } 
"  Yea,  a  crown  in  very  surety, 

But  of  thorns." 


224  POST-NICENE   GREEK  FA  THERS. 

If  I  find  him,  if  I  follow, 

What  his  guerdon  here  ? 
"  Many  a  sorrow,  many  a  labor, 

Many  a  tear." 

If  I  still  hold  closely  to  him, 

What  hath  he  at  last  ? 
*'  Sorrow  vanquished,  labor  ended, 

Jordan  past." 

If  I  ask  him  to  receive  me, 

Will  he  say  me  nay  } 
"  Not  till  earth,  and  not  till  heaven, 

Pass  away!  " 

Finding,  following,  keeping,  struggling, 

Is  he  sure  to  bless.-* 
"  Angels,  martyrs,  prophets,  virgins, 

Answer,  '  Yes!  '  " 


THE  END. 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


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